The Kadena Foundation, responsible for the blockchain initially presented as a scalable proof-of-work alternative to Ethereum, has announced it will halt all business operations and dissolve its organization, citing unfavorable market conditions and an inability to maintain active development.
The Kadena team stated that they are “no longer able to continue business operations and will cease all activity and active maintenance of the Kadena blockchain immediately,” as shared in an X post.
This announcement caused KDA, Kadena’s native token, to plummet over 55% within 24 hours, dropping below 9 cents and erasing nearly all of its five-year price trajectory.
A small team will manage the transition and issue a new node binary to ensure network continuity without the foundation’s operational involvement.
The Kadena blockchain will persist, as it is supported by independent miners and community developers. Over 566 million KDA are still designated for mining rewards until 2139, while 83.7 million tokens are set to become unlocked by 2029.
However, the absence of the core development team places the chain’s future in the hands of its community and independent ecosystem projects, creating a tenuous situation for a network that was previously backed by notable early investors and promoted as a hybrid public-private chain.
Kadena, established by former JPMorgan blockchain engineers Stuart Popejoy and Will Martino, debuted in 2019 with the ambition of scaling proof-of-work networks through a distinct multichain “braided” architecture. This framework combined conventional mining with smart-contract capabilities and its own programming language, Pact.
At its peak in 2021, KDA was valued over $25, with the project reaching a valuation of $25 billion, propelled by speculative excitement for alternatives to Ethereum’s exorbitant fees. Developer activity and participation have dwindled in recent years as newer proof-of-stake and modular blockchains have attracted funding and user interest.
