Sablier Labs Halts Development of Token-Streaming Protocol, Enters Maintenance Mode

Sablier Labs, a pioneer in token-streaming, is halting development and entering maintenance mode until June 2028. Co-founder Paul Berg cited a sharp Q1 2026 revenue drop, weak crypto markets, and competition from AI-cloned products as reasons. Existing user funds are safe as the protocol's on-chain contracts are permissionless, and the code has been made fully open-source ahead of schedule. The protocol served over 345,000 addresses without any security incidents.

Sablier Labs shutdown announcement

• ▪As of July 13, 2026, Sablier's interface no longer accepts new vesting streams or airdrops with end dates beyond June 2028
• ▪Sablier Labs has stopped active product development and entered a maintenance mode scheduled to last until June 2028
• ▪The shutdown was announced on July 13, 2026, by co-founder and CEO Paul Berg
• ▪The platform has also completely blocked the creation of new open-ended payment streams

Impact on existing users

• ▪The official Sablier frontend will be supported by the company until June 2028, after which it is expected to become a community-run project
• ▪The protocol's smart contracts are on-chain and permissionless, meaning they can function without the company's involvement
• ▪Existing token streams, vesting plans, and airdrops are unaffected by the shutdown

Open-source licensing changes

• ▪Sablier accelerated the open-sourcing of its EVM smart contracts, changing the license from Business Source License 1.1 to GPL
• ▪The license change was moved forward from July 1, 2029, to July 13, 2026, allowing immediate forking and modification of the code

Reasons for business failure

• ▪Reasons for the decline included clients postponing token launches amid weak crypto markets
• ▪The shutdown was prompted by a sharp decline in usage and revenue during Q1 2026
• ▪Another factor was AI-assisted coding making it cheaper for competitors to clone Sablier's products
• ▪Co-founder Paul Berg stated that there is not a "venture-scale business in onchain token distribution/money streaming."

Protocol usage statistics

• ▪The protocol was deployed on over 30 EVM chains and Solana, with zero security incidents involving user funds
• ▪The protocol has processed over 547,000 vesting plans, airdrop claims, and payment streams
• ▪Over 345,000 Ethereum addresses have used the Sablier protocol across more than 837,000 transactions

Token streaming standard legacy

• ▪Sablier is credited as the first company to introduce on-chain money streaming, a method for transferring tokens over time
• ▪Sablier's founder, Paul Berg, authored ERC-1620, the money-streaming standard introduced in 2018