Solana-Based Smart Contract Automation Project Clockwork to Shut Down Operations

Founder Cites Limited Commercial Benefits and Exploration of Other Opportunities

The Clockwork project, a smart contract automation initiative based on the Solana network, is set to shut down its key infrastructure by the end of October. Founder Nick Garfield announced the decision on Twitter, stating that the team will cease active development of the protocol and turn off its nodes on devnet and mainnet on October 31.

Garfield explained that the team's choice to step back from Clockwork was driven by a "simple opportunity cost," as there were limited commercial benefits to continuing its development. He also expressed the team's growing interest in exploring other opportunities.

Open-Source Code and Endorsement for Future Development

Although Clockwork will be shutting down, Garfield assured users that the project's code will remain open-source and available online. He even gave his "full endorsement to fork and ship" to anyone interested in continuing the work on the protocol.

Past Funding and Investor Questions

Last August, Clockwork raised $4 million in a seed round, with participation from venture firms Multicoin Capital, Asymmetric, and Solana Ventures, according to Crunchbase data. When asked about the fate of the seed money, Garfield replied that the team still has a significant portion of the funds and would take time to consider their decision.

Continued Wave of Shutdowns in Solana Ecosystem

The closure of Clockwork follows the shutdown of other Solana protocols, including the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Friktion in January and its peer Everlend Finance a month later. In late June, the Solana-based nonfungible token (NFT) protocol Cardinal also announced its winding down due to economic conditions, despite raising $4.4 million a year earlier.