Loopring announced Sunday that it is shutting down its decentralized exchange and automated market maker, ending all trading services and halting the relayer. In a post on X, the team said the closure is due to limited adoption, insufficient business development and competition from newer zkEVM solutions. Loopring, an early zero‑knowledge rollup, raised $45 million in a 2017 token offering and helped prove that zk‑rollups could scale Ethereum. Its total value locked was about $8 million, down from a peak of $760 million in November 2021, and its token LRC dropped to $0.01 from a high of $3.75. The team described itself as engineers who lack the business skills needed to sustain the platform and said newer protocols such as zkSync, Scroll and StarkNet have surpassed its technology. External pressures, including exchange delistings of LRC in 2026, also contributed to the decision. Loopring will calculate final user balances and distribute the remaining funds to Ethereum wallets, covering gas fees. The shutdown is part of a broader wave of crypto project closures in 2026, with more than 60 services ending operations according to RootData.