Alpaca Finance to Shut Down After Four Years, Citing Revenue Decline, Failed M&A, and Binance Delisting
Alpaca Finance, a pioneer in leveraged yield farming on the BNB Chain, announced it will wind down all operations by the end of 2025. The decision comes amid mounting challenges including falling revenues, unsuccessful merger talks, and the recent delisting of its native token from Binance.
Founded during the 2021 DeFi surge, Alpaca quickly became a major player on BNB Chain by enabling users to boost returns through leveraged yield farming — borrowing capital to farm liquidity pool (LP) tokens. At its height, the platform boasted over $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) and was among the most widely used protocols on the network.
However, Alpaca’s business model became increasingly unsustainable in a competitive and capital-heavy DeFi environment. The team revealed that the protocol had been operating at a loss for more than two years, a struggle tied to its reliance on protocol usage for revenue and a fair launch approach without venture capital or pre-mined tokens.
The situation worsened last month when Binance delisted ALPACA. Despite a brief surge in price fueled by forced liquidations, the token’s removal from the exchange severely limited liquidity and user access. This setback hindered Alpaca’s ability to pursue strategic growth opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions.
“We engaged in several M&A discussions, some advancing well,” the Alpaca team stated. “But with the market downturn in early 2025, these deals ultimately fell apart.”
Users will still be able to access the platform’s front-end until December 31, 2025, allowing ample time to withdraw funds as Alpaca gradually shuts down all products, including its yield farming platform, automated vaults, and decentralized perpetual contracts.
“This decision was difficult but necessary,” the team emphasized. “We are committed to a responsible and secure wind-down to protect our community.”
ALPACA tokens currently trade around $0.08, marking a decline of over 90% from the token’s peak price in 2021.
