Other

Allbridge Classic

Rejected The evidence weighs against it

Issued

2026-08-16

Last confirmed

2026-08-16

Next check due

2026-11-15

Research basis

Individual research

Chains

Polygon PoS · Mixed control, Solana · Governed, no freeze, Ethereum · No freeze key, BNB Smart Chain · Issuer can freeze, Avalanche · Governed, no freeze, NEAR Protocol · Mixed control

Allbridge Classic is a deprecated cross-chain bridge that official documentation says “will be stopped in mid-2026” in favor of Allbridge Core. As of 2026-08-15, however, the live coverage endpoint still reported about $1.12M, concentrated on Ethereum with smaller nonzero Solana, Terra, Binance, and Near balances, while retaining thirteen chain records. Official pages also still publish Classic contracts and transfer guides. No primary record gives the exact stop transaction, final withdrawal deadline, or treatment of residual assets. Size cannot show whether a claim on a discontinued bridge can be used. The active rejected v1 memo therefore remains an individual lifecycle decision until the deprecation, residual balances, and chain-by-chain unwind are reconciled.

Review triggers: events that reopen the verdict

Allbridge publishes an exact Classic stop timestamp or transaction, final route list and residual-asset withdrawal, migration or claims process, and every nonzero counted chain balance is reconciled to an executable or legally documented exit
Classic resumes supported operation with TVL sustained above the retired TVL threshold for 30 days and passes a fresh bridge, chain, contract, signer, incident and stressed-exit review

Watched nightly: a warning on its venues or files, or a cited document that changes, reopens the memo. The first confirmation is due 2026-11-15.

The research file

Mechanism and deprecated identity

Allbridge Classic moves native or wrapped assets between EVM and non-EVM chains through separate send and receive transactions. Official Classic documentation now calls the product deprecated and directs users to Allbridge Core, while still publishing the legacy architecture, network contracts, fees, and bridging guides. Classic and Core are therefore separate products at different points in their lifecycles.

Current observation and lifecycle conflict

The DefiLlama protocol API read on 2026-08-16 continued to classify Allbridge Classic as a Bridge and reported approximately $1.12M, including about $1.06M Ethereum, $0.044M Solana, $0.009M Terra, $0.006M Binance, and a small Near balance. Eight other retained chain records were zero. Its current adapter still queries the published Classic contracts rather than a closed historical snapshot. Official docs still say Classic “will be stopped in mid-2026” after that period began, but give no exact stop timestamp or transaction, final route list, withdrawal deadline, migration transaction, claims process, or signed reconciliation of residual assets.

Control, loss and exit applicability

A transfer requires transactions on the source and destination and depends on Classic contracts, validators or signers, token liquidity, and both settlement chains. Deprecation adds risks from migration, paused routes, and residual assets. Published contract addresses prove a historical or residual deployment, not that routes work now. Holders need chain-by-chain evidence that they can still bridge, withdraw, or claim assets. Aggregate TVL cannot replace that exit test.

Authority and incident evidence boundary

The reviewed documentation describes the transfer sequence and publishes legacy contracts, but it does not give a current Classic signer or validator roster, threshold and rotation history, pause and upgrade administrators, chain-by-chain route status, or a reconciliation of incidents and losses tied to the closure. These gaps matter apart from code availability. A contract can retain assets while its destination liquidity, signer service, or receive transaction is unavailable. A final decision needs signed protocol evidence or onchain events that connect each administrator and nonzero balance to a working withdrawal, migration, or claim. It also needs confirmation that no unresolved exploit, loss, or operational incident remains among those residual assets.

Decision, incidents and Core comparison

Coverage still lists Allbridge Classic as live, so deleting or archiving it would omit the product and falsely imply that residual claims disappeared. A rule for amounts below the size floor also cannot show whether a deprecated bridge receipt or wrapped asset has a working exit. The individual lifecycle memo stays rejected until the exact stop and residual-asset process are published and every nonzero balance is matched to a working withdrawal, migration, or legally documented claim. Any renewed operation requires a fresh review of Classic’s signers, contracts, and incidents and a comparison with Allbridge Core. Core’s current status does not prove that Classic claims migrated or closed.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

Allbridge Classic — deprecation notice and product identity · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
Supports: deprecated status, planned mid-2026 stop, Classic identity, Core successor, bridge mechanism
Allbridge Classic — bridge contracts · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
Supports: deprecated status, planned stop, legacy contract addresses, chain deployments
Allbridge Classic — transfer mechanism · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
Supports: send transaction, receive transaction, native and wrapped tokens, cross-chain dependency
Allbridge Classic — bridge fees and route availability · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
Supports: chain fees, route availability, source transaction, destination gas, deprecated notice
DefiLlama adapter — Allbridge Classic live contract accounting · secondary · accessed 2026-08-16
Supports: current contract addresses, chain accounting, staking balances, residual asset measurement
DefiLlama — Allbridge Classic survey record · secondary · accessed 2026-08-15
Supports: current residual TVL, thirteen chain records, Bridge category, active coverage identity

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The layer with the most administrative power sets the position’s effective control; that describes control, not quality or suitability.

Chain	Verdict	Control	Control constraint
Polygon PoS	Rejected	Mixed control	a public validator set orders transactions, but a 5-of-9 multisig can instantly upgrade staking and canonical bridge contracts, while a 5-of-8 controls custom child tokens.
Solana	Approved with limits	Governed, no freeze	no admin key can seize funds, but stake concentration and a sub-25 Nakamoto coefficient are the standing watch items.
Ethereum	Approved	No freeze key	No sequencer, no upgrade key, no operator who can be compelled. Rule changes require social consensus.
BNB Smart Chain	Rejected	Issuer can freeze	the validator set concentrates around one company, and the chain has been halted by decision.
Avalanche	Approved with limits	Governed, no freeze	no party can freeze or seize C-Chain funds, but one vendor writes the only production client and Messari measured over a third of stake hosted on AWS.
NEAR Protocol	Rejected	Mixed control	upgrade authority sits with whoever cuts the nearcore release and the 100 block producers who adopt it; the bridge exit depends on an MPC set and Wormhole, not on NEAR consensus alone.

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