Compass Investments

– Katenaa, Monday, February 23, 2026. Decentralized lending system ZeroLend is shutting down after its total blocked funds (TVL) dropped 98% from a peak of nearly $359 million in November 2024 to $6.6 million, as founder Riker announced last week.

The remaining share of TVL is split between Linea ($2.75 million), Ethereum ($1.97 million) and ZKsync Era ($933k), with minor amounts in Blast, Sonic and Base. Among the factors that have made the protocol unviable, Riker cited persistent operating losses, inactive or illiquid early blockchains, the discontinuation of oracles and increased security threats.

ZeroLend’s revenue is showing a significant decline, with $1.17 million generated in 2025 dropping to $132,290 for 2026.

Gross profit peaked at $3.11 million in 2025 and settled to around $355,000. The protocol never shared profits with token holders.

The team prioritizes safe withdrawals for users. In most markets, the leverage-to-value ratio is set at 0% , and Riker strongly encourages users to withdraw their remaining assets as soon as possible.

refunds on Manta, Zircuit and xLayer markets are planned via a timelock update, while LBTC holders on Base will receive a partial refund via a giveaway (airdrop) from LINEA.

However, there is no refund option for ZERO token holders. Over the past 24 hours, the token’s exchange rate has dropped by 34% , almost depreciating from its peak value of $0.001 recorded in May 2024.