Highlights
- Stargate's V1 liquidity pools will stop operating on December 15, 2026, after LayerZero Labs retires the V1 relayer they depend on.
- Zero-fee withdrawals have been enabled so liquidity providers can exit their positions without the usual cost barrier.
- V1 messaging will pause roughly two weeks before the deadline, after which pools reopen solely for withdrawals until they go dark for good.
- The shutdown does not affect Stargate V2 or Stargate Hydra — only holders of V1 LP positions need to act.
Stargate said its V1 liquidity pools will stop functioning on December 15, 2026, as parent infrastructure provider LayerZero Labs moves to retire the V1 relayer — the messaging layer that Stargate V1 has relied on to move assets across chains since launch. To smooth the transition, Stargate is enabling zero-fee withdrawals, removing the cost that would normally apply when a liquidity provider pulls funds out of a pool. Anyone still holding an LP position in a Stargate V1 pool needs to withdraw before the December 15 cutoff; positions left in place after that date risk becoming inaccessible once the underlying messaging infrastructure goes offline.
Why LayerZero Is Pulling the Plug on V1
Stargate V1 pools have been running on LayerZero's original relayer architecture since the protocol's 2022 launch, when it became one of the first bridges to solve the “unified liquidity” problem for stablecoin transfers across chains. LayerZero has since moved its newer infrastructure, and the bulk of its transaction volume, onto V2, which underpins Stargate V2 and the newer Stargate Hydra product. Keeping the legacy V1 relayer running in parallel carries an ongoing maintenance and security cost for infrastructure that a shrinking share of users still touch, which is the typical driver behind this kind of sunset — Stargate's own documentation for the V1 routes now carries the deprecation notice.
The wind-down is structured in stages rather than a hard cutoff. Roughly two weeks ahead of December 15, V1 messaging itself will be temporarily paused, meaning the pools will stop processing new cross-chain transfers. From that point until the final deadline, the pools reopen exclusively to let liquidity providers withdraw their existing positions — no new deposits, no new routes, just an exit window. Once December 15 passes, the V1 relayer is retired for good and any liquidity still sitting in the pools becomes stuck.
What LPs Need to Do Before December 15
For liquidity providers, the practical takeaway is simple: check whether any capital is still parked in a Stargate V1 pool and withdraw it before the deadline, taking advantage of the fee waiver while it's available. LayerZero has recommended that users migrating funds route them to higher-liquidity chains such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain rather than smaller networks, since V1's exit liquidity is expected to concentrate on those chains as the deadline approaches. This kind of legacy-infrastructure wind-down is common across DeFi as protocols consolidate onto newer, cheaper, or more secure architecture, but it carries real risk for LPs who simply forget an old position exists — a scenario that has repeatedly left users with permanently stranded funds in other protocols' deprecated pools.
For the broader cross-chain infrastructure market, the move also underscores how much of DeFi's plumbing has shifted since 2022. Stablecoin issuers now move liquidity across chains at a scale Stargate V1 was never built for — Circle alone has minted a billion dollars of USDC in a single day on Solana, while Tron's USDT supply has overtaken Ethereum's on the back of a multibillion-dollar monthly surge. Protocols that don't keep consolidating onto more efficient rails risk carrying dead weight the way LayerZero's V1 relayer had become for the ecosystem it helped build.
What to Watch Next
The key date is the V1 messaging pause roughly two weeks before December 15 — that's the point at which any liquidity provider who hasn't withdrawn will see their pool stop processing transfers entirely, leaving only the exit window before the hard deadline. Between now and then, watch Stargate's and LayerZero's own channels for the exact pause date, and watch on-chain TVL data for Stargate V1 to see how much liquidity has already migrated out versus how much remains at risk as December 15 approaches.
FAQ
When do Stargate's V1 pools shut down?
Stargate V1 liquidity pools stop functioning on December 15, 2026, when LayerZero Labs retires the V1 relayer that powers them.
Does this affect Stargate V2 or Stargate Hydra?
No. The shutdown is limited to Stargate V1 pools; Stargate V2 and Stargate Hydra run on separate, newer infrastructure and are unaffected.
Will I be charged a fee to withdraw my V1 liquidity?
No. Stargate has enabled zero-fee withdrawals specifically so liquidity providers can exit V1 pools without the usual withdrawal cost.
What happens if I don't withdraw before December 15?
Liquidity left in a Stargate V1 pool after the deadline risks becoming inaccessible once the V1 relayer is retired, since the pools will no longer have the messaging infrastructure needed to process transfers.
