Key Takeaways
- The development network and mainnet nodes will be shut down by October 31.
- The company’s code will remain open-source and free to access on GitHub.
In a recent series of announcements made on August 27, Clockwork, a Solana-based smart contract automation project, revealed its decision to discontinue key infrastructure for the protocol, citing limited commercial viability as the driving factor. Nick Garfield, the founder of Clockwork, conveyed that the project’s development would come to a halt and the nodes on both the devnet and mainnet would be deactivated by October 31.
Clockwork’s primary function centered around allowing users to schedule transactions on the Solana network while also enabling the creation of automated smart contracts programmed to execute specific applications triggered by predefined events.
Despite the innovative nature of the project, Garfield acknowledged the presence of “simple opportunity cost,” explaining that the team recognized limited potential for commercial gains from the protocol’s ongoing development. As a result, the team decided to step back from Clockwork’s active development to explore alternative prospects that had piqued their interest.
Assuring the community of their commitment to openness, Garfield affirmed that Clockwork’s code would remain open-source and accessible online. Furthermore, he encouraged other developers to consider forking and continuing work on the protocol, offering the team’s complete endorsement for such endeavors.
Last August, Clockwork managed to secure $4 million in a seed funding round led by prominent venture firms Multicoin Capital and Asymmetric, alongside participation from Solana Ventures, according to data from Crunchbase.
The decision to shutter Clockwork follows a trend of other Solana-based protocols facing similar outcomes. Earlier in the year, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Friction and its peer Everlend Finance discontinued operations, highlighting the challenges faced by projects operating on the Solana network. In June, Solana’s Cardinal Protocol also announced that it was shutting down its services as a result of poor economic conditions.
