Layer-1 blockchain project Linera has shut down, the a16z-backed team announced on September 19, after a community token sale raised well below its minimum target and emergency financing failed to close the gap. The project, founded by former Meta researcher Mathieu Baudet, said the decision comes down to funding rather than any issue with its technology or team, according to its Discord announcement. Linera had built a scalable network of small, parallel chains it called microchains, a design aimed at handling large volumes of simultaneous activity.
Token Sale Fell Far Short of Target
Linera’s LNRA community round on the Sonar platform drew $848,271 in USDC from 617 participants, roughly 57% of the $1.5 million minimum needed for the sale to close. Because that threshold was not met, the sale did not complete and every contribution was refunded rather than locked into the project. The team described the result as nearly $900,000 in commitments, still short of what it needed to continue development toward mainnet. Emergency financing efforts that followed the sale also failed to close the shortfall.
Twelve Million Dollars Was Not Enough
The shutdown is striking because Linera had raised about $12 million across two venture rounds. A $6 million seed round announced in June 2022 was led by a16z Crypto, with Cygni Capital, Kima Ventures and Tribe Capital participating. A second $6 million round followed in August 2023, led by Borderless Capital, with backing from Flow Traders, GSR, Matrixport and Laser Digital. Linera is not the first funded startup to run out of runway: stablecoin card issuer Kulipa shut down four months after a $6.2 million seed round.
What Happens Next
The team is winding down the application and will eventually close its Discord server, while user point balances remain on record with no guarantee of future value. Linera said it still hopes to finish the protocol and launch applications, though it offered no timeline. The announcement thanked users who operated testnet nodes, tested applications and reported bugs during development. a16z has continued backing new blockchain infrastructure, most recently leading a $25 million seed round in OpenReserve, but Linera’s microchain-based design will not reach mainnet under the current team.
