Radiant Capital (RDNT)

The most direct illustration of the crypto market's "new normal": recently not only crypto exchanges have experienced a wave of closures, but crypto projects have also faced a wave of shutdowns:
1) On June 1, the cross‑chain lending protocol Radiant (RDNT) announced that its DAO entered an orderly exit/maintenance mode;
2) On June 25, the zkSync‑related L2 chain Sophon (SOPH) announced the cessation of its own L2 chain;
3) On June 28, the early Layer‑2 project Loopring (LRC) announced an immediate halt of its DEX, AMM trading services, and relayer;
4) In late June, the RWA/decentralized credit protocol Goldfinch (GFI) community passed a vote (GIP‑87) to enter maintenance mode and shut down the Goldfinch Prime product;
5) On July 15, the public chain Movement (MOVE) – its core development company MVMT Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware court;
6) Today, storage project Storj filed for Chapter 11 restructuring.

One cannot help but ask why:
1) On the surface, a bear market slump makes it impossible for projects to raise financing or cash out from the market (sell‑off), creating massive funding pressure that forces them to stop bleeding;
2) At a deeper level, projects lack self‑sustaining capability; funding either depends on new financing or on selling tokens, both of which have dried up in this bear market;
3) Even deeper, without value creation and genuine innovation, the capital market refuses to support them.

It also reminds me of past observations:
A year ago we discussed how altcoins would face fierce pressure from U.S. equity tokens;
Two years ago we talked about the crypto market entering a "new normal" where the Matthew effect becomes more pronounced – the good get better, the bad get worse. Only a few assets with growth potential and certainty attract capital and attention, while the majority fade into obscurity.
Now it seems those predictions have been confirmed.

What's even scarier is not that projects shut down, but that they have gone unnoticed.

Why altcoins are so bleak was covered in detail in a series of tweets this year: https://t.co/ELP1UnO9Y3

DEV with MM is so impressive!

When it was 'alive' we were already targeting it, now the project announces closure and then pumps sky‑high

The old trick is used again, yet it’s still effective

$RDNT https://t.co/6ugCqZMaGf

Radiant Capital is winding down 18 months after $50M hack

@RDNTCapital is shutting down, unable to recover from the roughly $50M exploit it suffered in October 2024. After 18 months of trying to rebuild, the DAO said it couldn't recover meaningful funds or raise fresh capital, and "no longer has a viable path forward."

The October 2024 attack hit Radiant's Arbitrum and BNB Chain deployments after an attacker deployed a backdoor contract for unauthorized access, draining ~$51M. It followed an earlier 2024 flash loan attack that took ~1,900 ETH (~$4.5M at the time).

The protocol now moves into a "maintenance state" - frontend and smart contracts stay live, so users can still withdraw, repay, and manage positions. Recovery efforts continue, and any retrieved funds will go back to those affected.