TL;DR
Proposal to wind down the Karura network in an orderly way, alongside Acala. The chain will stop producing blocks on Feb 10, 2027. Users are encouraged to withdraw their external assets before this deadline. As a last resort, we will do our best to return any external assets still on Karura at that point to their owners' Kusama Asset Hub accounts, though not every asset can be returned.
What you are voting on
By voting Aye, you agree to:
This is a signalling referendum. It gives the mandate for the plan; the on-chain actions to carry it out will follow through Karura governance.
Motivation
Karura was the first parachain on Kusama and the proving ground for Acala, launching the ecosystem's first DEX, first Kusama stablecoin, LKSM and EVM+. But the liquidity Karura needed never built up. Kusama's multi-chain structure split liquidity, users and attention across many parachains, and wallet infrastructure never made moving between them seamless. Usage no longer covers the cost of running a dedicated chain.
Winding down together with Acala, while withdrawal and XCM routes still work, gives every user time to leave safely.
We also want to avoid leaving assets behind on a stopped chain. A stopped chain's code and final state remain public, and anyone could bring it back to life. With no one maintaining or watching it, a flaw in governance could be found and exploited to take whatever was left, and better tools, including AI, make that easier every year. That is why, as a last resort, we will do our best to return remaining external assets to their owners on Kusama Asset Hub, and donate the Karura treasury's external assets to the Kusama Treasury.
Description
The sunset runs in three stages after this referendum is enacted:
KAR cannot be withdrawn. As the native token, it stays on Karura.
Until 10 February 2027, we will keep collators and RPC nodes running and make sure Karura holds valid coretime, so the chain keeps producing blocks and every exit route stays open.
If this referendum passes