Hack VC-Backed Nillion to Shut Down Its Chain on Cosmos, Shift Focus to Ethereum
NilChain, a privacy-focused blockchain constructed with the Cosmos SDK by Nillion, is winding down operations on Cosmos as a part of broader shifts throughout the interoperability-focused ecosystem.
In an X announcement on Feb. 17, the group mentioned the community will halt operations on March 23, urging holders of the NIL token emigrate their property to Ethereum earlier than the shutdown.
NilChain was designed as a community for safe computation. However the chain has seemingly not been capable of attain broad utilization contained in the Cosmos ecosystem.
Leaving Cosmos, nevertheless, doesn’t mark an finish to Nillion itself, as the corporate plans to proceed working on Ethereum. Amid the information, nilChain’s native token NIL briefly jumped over 10% on the day to $0.06 and is at present buying and selling round $0.053, per information from CoinGecko.
It stays unclear why the group determined emigrate away from Cosmos. The Nillion group declined The Defiant’s request to touch upon the transfer for this story.
NilChain might not be extensively recognized in contrast with bigger Layer 1 or Layer 2 networks, however Nillion has raised sizable funding. In December 2022, the corporate closed a roughly $20 million seed spherical led by Distributed International, with participation from GSR Markets and HashKey.
It raised one other $25 million in October 2024 in a spherical led by Hack VC, with backing from the Arbitrum Basis, Worldcoin, Sei, HashKey Capital, and Animoca Manufacturers.
Exodus from Cosmos
The transfer comes as Cosmos itself reassesses its path. In July 2025, the Cosmos Hub scrapped plans so as to add native good contract help, citing excessive prices and weak developer demand. Groups that had deliberate to deploy functions on the Hub had been inspired to construct on different Cosmos-based chains as an alternative.
That shift pressured a reset for a lot of groups and coincided with a wave of exits. Since mid-2025, a number of tasks have introduced exits or wind-downs throughout the Cosmos ecosystem.
The stablecoin-focused undertaking Noble mentioned earlier in January of this yr it might go away Cosmos to launch its personal EVM-compatible L1, saying the group needs to “meet customers and builders the place they already are.” Others have taken completely different paths with chains like Pryzm and Quasar asserting shutdowns or important adjustments.
Some have publicly mentioned they’re leaving Cosmos after years of scuffling with liquidity, consumer distribution, and developer traction following the collapse of Terra in 2022. Others, together with infrastructure suppliers, argue the ecosystem nonetheless is smart for groups targeted on interoperability somewhat than client DeFi.
TVL, app income and charges on Cosmos Hub. Supply: DefiLlama
The Cosmos Hub itself has additionally seen declining exercise. Information from DefiLlama reveals whole worth locked on the community falling from about $2.65 million to roughly $131,000 earlier this month, the bottom degree on document.
Community charges have additionally dropped sharply. By January, charges reached an all-time low of round $218,000, with solely 4 of the 11 protocols deployed on the Cosmos Hub producing any income.
ATOM, the native token of Cosmos Hub, is down about 4% over the previous 24 hours, although it rallied over 18% up to now week, per CoinGecko.
