Closed DeFi Protocol: What Can Still Be Recovered

A closed DeFi protocol does not always take your funds with its site. Minterest shut down its interface on December 19, 2025, but its smart contracts remain active for repayments and withdrawals. In contrast, Immutable X enforced a migration: February 11, 2026, was the last day to withdraw funds manually.

In Brief

• December 19, 2025: On this day, Minterest closed its interface while keeping its smart contracts active for withdrawals.
• 7 holders: A bug in the VCO token blocked the migration of their assets at the end of Immutable X.
• December 31, 2027: This is the announced closure date by Polygon for its Polygon zkEVM claim interface.
• December 15, 2026: Abstract has set this date for the shutdown of its blockchain, with loss of access for non-migrated funds.

Closed DeFi Protocol: The Site is Not the Contract

In decentralized finance, the website is often just the visible part. It prepares operations, displays your positions, and helps you sign. The funds, however, remain in smart contracts deployed on a blockchain.

When the site shuts down, these contracts can continue to operate. A withdrawal remains possible, even without a "Withdraw" button. It is essential that the function exists and that the project has not suspended the contract. Liquidity must also remain available.

The closure of a blockchain poses another problem. If the chain itself stops, it is no longer sufficient to call a contract. An organized migration or a planned emergency exit via the bridge to Ethereum is required.

Minterest: Withdraw Without an Interface, If Liquidity Follows

Minterest, a lending protocol present on Ethereum, Mantle, Taiko, and Morph, announced its closure on November 19, 2025. Its interface closed on December 19 at 23:59 UTC. On December 31, support and the main infrastructure, including its solvency engines, ceased operations.

The smart contracts remain active to allow users to repay and withdraw their assets directly. Minterest, announcement of November 19, 2025

The project thus publishes two guides for direct interaction in its documentation. The first covers Ethereum and Mantle, the second Taiko and Morph. You must find the right network, contract, and function yourself.

Its FAQ adds two caveats. First, interest continues to accrue at the contract level, even after the infrastructure has stopped. Waiting thus costs money for a borrower. Second, a withdrawal requires available liquidity. When the utilization rate approaches 100%, the withdrawal may remain blocked due to a lack of free liquidity.

On October 18, 2026, the aggregator DefiLlama still recorded about $104,000 of value locked in Minterest, excluding loans. Nearly $20,400 remained borrowed at that time.

The project also excludes any distribution for three groups: participants in its public sale in February 2022, its private investors, and victims of its hack in July 2024. These victims had already received partial compensation in MINTY tokens. According to Minterest, the 2022 sale was part of an old company, which has been bankrupt since 2023.

Immutable X and Polygon zkEVM: When the Blockchain Stops

Immutable X, a second-layer Ethereum network dedicated to NFTs and video games, took a different path. February 11, 2026, was the last day to manually withdraw funds. Immutable then migrated the remaining funds to Immutable zkEVM from March 5 to 9, 2026, according to the GitHub repository of the migration contracts.

Specifically, the migration relies on the final state of the chain and on cryptographic proof of ownership. However, an operator designated by Immutable executes the payments. According to its documentation, the tokens have joined the same wallet on the new chain. For NFTs, it all depends on the game: many projects have planned their own procedure.

Two exceptions show the limits of an automatic migration. First, withdrawals initiated no later than February 11, without finalization on Ethereum, remain separate. Their holders must call the bridge withdrawal function themselves, according to a dedicated procedure published in the same repository. According to Immutable's repository, this function does not apply to NFTs. Secondly, a bug in the VCO token prevented the migration of holdings from 7 holders, who remained on the bridge. A new version of the contract, deployed in April 2026, allows them to withdraw their assets on Ethereum themselves.

Polygon has chosen a third method for Polygon zkEVM, which was halted on July 3, 2026. Holders of a classic wallet recover their funds on Ethereum. They go through a claims interface for Polygon zkEVM, which Polygon has announced will be open until December 31, 2027. In contrast, funds locked in a DeFi application do not go through this route. Polygon directs these users to the operator of each application.

Blast and Abstract: Two Closures, Two Rules

In 2026, two other blockchains announced their closure, with very different rules. Blast did so on October 2, 2026, as Cointribune recalled during the departure of Blur. According to this announcement relayed by the press, withdrawals through the usual interface remained possible until October 26, 2026. Blast also promised instructions for withdrawing directly via its contracts on Ethereum thereafter.

On the other hand, Abstract, developed by Igloo, the company behind Pudgy Penguins, is stricter. Its official migration page set the stop date for December 15, 2026. It warns that users who do not migrate their assets before this date will lose access to their funds.

Closed DeFi Protocol: Four Questions Before Searching for Your Funds

Before considering an asset as lost or recoverable, ask yourself four questions.

• Where is the asset? In your wallet, in a loan pool, in a bridge, or on a closing blockchain.
• What operation was in progress? A deposit, a loan, or a withdrawal initiated but not finalized follow different paths.
• What function remains available? An explorer page displaying a balance does not prove that you can withdraw it.
• What resources remain? Liquidity, network fees, and project operators condition the success of a withdrawal.

In the European Union, fully decentralized services are also exempt from the MiCA regulation, European supervisory authorities remind in a joint note on crypto-assets. The protections provided by this text do not apply to them.

Closed DeFi Protocol: Beware of Fake Sites

Finally, a closed DeFi protocol attracts scammers. Without an official interface, a fake "recovery" site can easily pose as the project. Immutable warns that any site asking to sign its Immutable X key message is attempting phishing.

The FBI also reminds that a private recovery company cannot order the seizure of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, never share your recovery phrase to obtain a withdrawal. Verify each contract address in the official project documentation.

Among the deadlines announced in these files, Polygon's is the furthest away. According to its official page, its claim interface for Polygon zkEVM is set to remain open until December 31, 2027. Elsewhere, it all depends on the functions that the contracts leave open, as explained in our guide on how smart contracts work.