Polygon zkEVM

Polygon announced that the Mainnet Beta would be sunset in 2026 with at least 12 months' notice from June 2025. The official page lists the sequencer shutdown as 1 July 2026, while a support article says 3 July 2026, so the exact date differs between sources.

At sunset an exit snapshot was taken of wallet balances, and those funds were migrated to Ethereum and made claimable through a dedicated interface. Only funds held directly in user wallets qualify. Assets in DeFi protocols, multisigs or bridges at the time of shutdown cannot be claimed this way. The claims interface stays open until 31 December 2027.

Alchemy ended its support for the zkEVM mainnet and the Cardona testnet and says there is no migration path. Polygon says the sunset affects only zkEVM Mainnet Beta, and that Polygon CDK chains and the wider Polygon network continue.

This matters because the shutdown could be confused with a token event. Scammers like such moments, since users are anxious about their funds and more willing to click on messages.

For anyone affected, the lesson is to check where assets sit. Funds held directly in a wallet are recoverable through the interface, while funds deposited in contracts may require action from the protocol that held them. Keep a record of your addresses and the date you last used the network, and start the recovery well before the end-2027 deadline, because interfaces can change.