The Kadena Organization, the company that develops the eponymous Layer 1 blockchain, announced today that it will be shutting down operations and ceasing its affiliation with Kadena immediately, sending the KDA token tumbling.
As a decentralized blockchain, the network will technically remain operational via independent miners and smart contract operators, but the founding team will no longer be supporting its growth or maintenance.
KDA is down 60% today following the news and down 85% over the last calendar year to a $30 million valuation. The token now trades 99.7% below its all-time high of $27 billion in 2021, which would have made it a Top 15 cryptocurrency by fully diluted valuation (FDV) in 2025.
Chain metrics such as total value locked (TVL) and KDA volume peaked in 2021 and 2022, with an all-time high TVL of just $9 million in March 2022. At the time, the KDA token touted an FDV of $6.5 billion.
Interest in the token appeared to pick back up in December 2024 during the market’s brief altseason, as that month marked KDA’s highest monthly trading volume since Q2 2022.
In July, Kadena founder and CEO Stuart Popejoy appeared on The Defiant Podcast to discuss the chain’s Leap Grant Program, which included a $50 million incentive program for ecosystem developers and projects. It is unclear whether the $50 million has been distributed.
The organization added that it would engage with the Kadena community to discuss how to move forward with locked and unmined tokens.
