Scroll Pivots to AI Private Network: Can This ‘Top-Tier’ L2 Survive on Just $40 in Daily Revenue?

Author: Curry, TechFlow

Ethereum L2 Scroll posted an update on its governance forum on September 8, announcing plans to gradually transition the public chain over approximately nine months into a private application-specific network built around the AI product Compass. The SCR token will simultaneously migrate to the Ethereum mainnet, with no changes to its tokenomics.

Around the same time, Sophon, which also follows the ZK Stack tech route, confirmed it will permanently shut down its mainnet on November 30, with withdrawal deadlines set for November 25. Meanwhile, Abstract, backed by Pudgy Penguins' parent company Igloo, announced it will cease operations on December 15, with its CEO admitting operating losses of "eight figures." Taken together, these events form the most concentrated clearance signal for the general-purpose Ethereum L2 sector this autumn.

Scroll: From Top-Tier L2 to AI Pivot

While Scroll has not announced a shutdown, its actions acknowledge one reality: in the current environment, a general-purpose ZK L2 is difficult to sustain as a business.

Recently, the Scroll team clearly stated on the governance forum that maintaining a general-purpose public chain is no longer viewed as the project's best path to differentiation. It plans to gradually transition the network from a public general-purpose chain into a private application-specific network centered around Compass and the AI product suite, with the overall transition expected to take about nine months.

This AI product suite consists of several components:

Compass offers AI models along with features like VPN and eSIM; Compass API provides routing services for over 30 large language models; CENO leverages ZK technology to provide a trust layer for AI agent credentials, context, and privacy-preserving computations; USX handles payments and settlement; and SCR continues to serve governance functions.

According to Scroll official sources, CENO currently has over 30 prospective clients, with 12 undergoing proof-of-concept testing; Compass remains in its early consumer validation phase.

The team clarified that this governance forum update is a progress report, not a formal proposal, and does not trigger a vote. Once details of the network transition are confirmed, it will be submitted separately for DAO review.

And on-chain data had already highlighted the issue even before the proposal was released.

Data from growthepie shows Scroll processes approximately 9,700 daily transactions, with 584 daily active addresses. Its daily on-chain revenue stands at $41.78, a 75.6% drop week-over-week, ranking 21st among the 27 tracked chains.

DefiLlama shows its TVL is approximately $3.6 million. The SCR token has plummeted over 98% from its December 2024 peak of $1.43, currently trading in the $0.019 to $0.02 range.

ether.fi migrated its core products to OP Mainnet earlier this year, taking roughly $160 million in TVL with it, marking one of the direct triggers behind Scroll's cliff-like drop in activity.

Sophon and Abstract: Direct Shutdowns

If Scroll's transition leaves room for questions, Sophon and Abstract have delivered more direct answers.

Both selected the ZK Stack infrastructure, both faced a sharp drop in activity following funding rounds, and both ultimately chose to shut down their chains while keeping their tokens alive on the Ethereum mainnet.

Sophon has set November 25 as the final deadline for asset withdrawals. Following this, key infrastructure and related websites will begin closing sequentially. The mainnet is officially scheduled to shut down on November 30, at which point any assets left on the chain may become permanently inaccessible.

Sophon previously raised approximately $70 million and sold 121,000 nodes. After the transition, it plans to build consumer applications on Base, while the SOPH token will continue circulating on Ethereum and Base.

Abstract is operated by Igloo Inc., the parent company of Pudgy Penguins. CEO Luca Netz confirmed the company lost tens of millions of dollars due to the project. The on-chain environment will officially close on December 15, making any remaining on-chain assets inaccessible. Official migration paths include the Migration Hub and native bridges. The reasons cited by Abstract for the shutdown are:

Thin liquidity, limited DeFi activity, restricted institutional capital participation, intensifying competition, and the realization that the independent chain operation model is unsustainable.

What both share is choosing the ZK Stack (a modular tech stack provided by Matter Labs) to build their L2s. Both are proving that a solid technological foundation does not equate to a sustainable on-chain economy.

The Business Model Dilemma of General-Purpose L2s

In my view, the situations of these three crypto projects all point to the same structural problem.

L2 revenue comes from transaction fees paid by users. After deducting L1 data submission costs to the Ethereum mainnet and ZK proof generation costs, net income is extremely thin. Scroll's daily revenue of $41 starkly illustrates this logic; this amount doesn't even cover a single engineer's daily salary, let alone the compute costs for proof generation.

When a daily revenue of $40 has become a running joke in the crypto community, a graceful pivot is perhaps the better direction forward.

Before shutting down, Sophon estimated that maintaining an independent L2 operation cost over $3 million annually. Abstract directly stated its losses reached "eight figures." While Scroll hasn't disclosed operational costs, based on the wording in its governance forum update, "unsteady demand for a general-purpose network and high infrastructure costs" are officially acknowledged drivers for the transition.

The counterexample of Base represents the other side of this logic:

User traffic funneling and brand endorsement from Coinbase gave Base a cold-start advantage that independent L2s cannot replicate. Without this backing, most general-purpose L2s are essentially using fundraising capital to subsidize on-chain activity, and such funding will not last forever.

Token Holders Must Monitor the SCR Token Migration

Scroll's transition proposal has two direct impacts on SCR holders.

First, token migration: SCR will migrate from Scroll L2 to the Ethereum mainnet. The team states that the supply and tokenomics remain unchanged, governance functions are retained, and it can expand to new scenarios such as staking.

Second, network nature change: Scroll is shifting from an open public infrastructure to a private permissioned network, meaning SCR's value proposition will shift from "general-purpose L2 transaction activity" to "governance and usage demand for the AI private network." Neither currently has verifiable revenue data to back it up.

The transition proposal is still prior to DAO deliberation. The final execution details and the commercial rollout progress of the AI products are the two variables that will determine whether this assessment holds true.