Pudgy Penguins-backed Abstract to shut down after ‘tens of millions’ in losses

Abstract, a consumer-focused Ethereum layer-2 blockchain built by Pudgy Penguins’ parent company Igloo Inc., said Tuesday it will shut down this year after struggling to scale and find product-market fit. In an X post, Abstract said its focus on “consumer crypto” ultimately proved to be an unsustainable business model. Abstract launched its mainnet in January 2025 with the aim of driving consumer crypto adoption by targeting mainstream entertainment. For users, it aimed to strip away many of the complexities that traditional blockchains require.“Unknown to most, Igloo, Inc. had been funding Abstract over the last 18 months,” said Luca Netz, CEO of Igloo Inc. “After losing tens of millions of dollars over two years, building consumer products, assembling an all-star team, onboarding some of the biggest brands in the world, and building a community of millions, we still had not found product-market fit.” Abstract’s shutdown highlights the limits of its consumer-first strategy. Both Abstract and Netz cited minimal institutional crossover, alongside thin liquidity and a restricted DeFi ecosystem, as constraints on growth.This was despite more than 144 apps having been deployed on the n...