LayerZero, one of the most widely adopted cross-chain interoperability protocols, is withdrawing its Decentralized Verifier Network (DVN) and Executor services from Botanix, Canto, Moonriver, Moonbeam, and Nexera, effectively removing the offchain infrastructure those networks rely on to verify and deliver cross-chain messages.

The changes are scheduled to take effect over the next 30 days. LayerZero has advised Stargate users to redeem USDC.e, wrapped Ether (wETH), and Hydra USDT from the affected chains before their respective cutoff deadlines. Any assets remaining on those chains once the supporting pathways are fully deprecated could become inaccessible.

Users are urged to complete redemptions through Stargate before support formally ends, rather than simply transferring assets to another wallet on the same chain. The warning specifically applies to Hydra assets issued through Stargate's cross-chain liquidity system, not to every token or application operating on the five affected networks.

Low Activity Drives Infrastructure Withdrawal

LayerZero attributed the decision to minimal activity on the affected chains. Several of these networks are themselves in wind-down or transition phases: Moonbeam and Moonriver are scheduled to shut down on July 31, and Canto has announced plans to migrate away from its current EVM architecture. Its DVNs are responsible for verifying cross-chain messages, while Executors submit approved messages to destination-chain contracts. Applications that depend on LayerZero Labs' services will lose those routing capabilities unless their operators adopt alternative infrastructure or migrate their deployments.

Stargate Hydra extends liquidity from native pools on established chains to token representations on smaller networks. USDC.e, wETH, and Hydra USDT issued on those chains can be burned through an outbound transfer, which releases the corresponding native asset from a Stargate pool on another chain.

Every Stargate transfer depends on LayerZero messaging, DVNs, and Executors. Once those services cease operating on an affected chain, users may no longer have a viable route to burn Hydra representations and recover the pool-backed assets.

The decision specifically concerns LayerZero Labs' offchain support and does not constitute a shutdown of LayerZero's immutable endpoint contracts. Asset issuers and applications retain control over their own verification and execution configurations, although Stargate-managed assets use a security stack maintained by LayerZero Labs.

Moonbeam and Moonriver Approach July Shutdown

Moonbeam and Moonriver are already in the process of migrating their native tokens to Base ahead of both networks shutting down on July 31. MOVR holders are required to transfer their tokens through Moonbeam's official migration route. Exchanges including Binance and Bybit have already ended deposits and withdrawals on the original networks.

The broader infrastructure reduction follows a series of changes to LayerZero's cross-chain operations. LayerZero recently classified $2.1 million in Executor wallet transfers as routine inventory movements, confirming that no breach or loss of user funds had occurred.

Cross-chain applications have also been reassessing their infrastructure following the April KelpDAO exploit. Virtuals Protocol moved more than $700 million worth of VIRTUAL tokens from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP — one of several competing cross-chain messaging protocols — after conducting a security review of its token routes. The move highlighted a broader trend of applications re-evaluating bridge and messaging dependencies across the interoperability landscape.

LayerZero has not disclosed the total value of Hydra assets still held across Botanix, Canto, Moonriver, Moonbeam, and Nexera.