Terminal Finance, the highly anticipated decentralized exchange incubated by Ethena Labs, has officially abandoned its launch plans. This decision comes after the Converge blockchain, its intended base layer, failed to arrive on schedule. The project had already attracted more than $280 million in pre-launch deposits, making this cancellation one of the most significant in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector this year.
A DEX Built for a Chain That Never Arrived
Terminal Finance was designed to become the liquidity hub of Converge, an institutional-grade, Ethereum-compatible blockchain co-developed by Ethena Labs and Securitize. The team’s entire architecture and economic model were dependent on Converge’s mainnet going live.
However, that mainnet never materialized. According to Terminal Finance, Converge currently has no confirmed launch timeline, leaving the DEX without the foundational infrastructure required to operate. With the chain indefinitely delayed, the team concluded that the project could not move forward in any credible, long-term capacity.
User Funds Fully Safe and Withdrawable
Despite the shutdown, Terminal Finance emphasized that all user deposits are completely secure. Every user’s principal remains backed 1:1 and is fully withdrawable. This reassurance was central to the project’s announcement, especially given the scale of deposits accumulated during the pre-launch phase.
Rewards Will Continue Despite Cancellation
Although the DEX will not launch, users holding Pendle positions tied to the project will continue to receive their expected benefits. These include Ethena Sats rewards, sUSDe earnings, and EtherFi points, preserving the incentive structures that participants had already entered.
Open-Sourcing the Codebase for Community Use
In a move highlighting transparency, the Terminal Finance team will release the protocol’s full codebase as open-source. This decision allows developers or future projects to build on the work done so far, despite the platform itself not going live.
Integrity Over a Forced Launch
Terminal Finance acknowledged that it explored various alternative options, including migrating to another blockchain. However, each path presented significant issues such as weak ecosystem support and poor long-term viability. The team ultimately decided that launching under compromised conditions would violate its core principles.
Rather than pushing forward with a structurally unsound product, Terminal Finance chose to terminate the initiative entirely, a rare but deliberate step in a market where many projects launch prematurely.