Multix Sunset Announcement (Jan 1, 2026)

Tech Talk
1

TL;DR

Multix will stop working on January 1, 2026.

We (the PAPI team) planned to take over Multix and continue maintaining and improving it, especially to reduce its reliance on indexers and to push multisig UX forward across Polkadot ecosystems (including better support for ETH-like chains such as Moonbeam).

We discussed this plan with Nico (Velocity Labs) and Alberto (Papermoon), and we were told that the DeFi Infra Bounty would support this effort. However, following recent changes around OpenGov and the resulting constraints on bounty funding, we were informed that the bounty can no longer support Multix. We attempted to find an alternative solution with the Web3 Foundation (W3F), but we haven’t reached a workable outcome.

As a result, we cannot sustain Multix’s operational costs, and we will be shutting it down on January 1, 2026.

What we wanted to do with Multix

In our view, Multix is currently one of the best tools for managing multisig calls on Polkadot.

But we’ve also believed for a long time that it could be significantly better, especially if it didn’t depend so heavily on indexers. Ever since @voliva published the stateless multisig tooling experiment, we’ve been thinking about what it would take to build multisig tooling that:

  • doesn’t rely on indexers as a hard dependency,
  • can be integrated directly into wallets and extensions, and
  • helps make multisig signing flows feel like first-class citizens across the ecosystem.

When we were approached about taking over Multix, we were excited because it felt like the right opportunity to evolve Multix in that direction, incrementally and responsibly, while collaborating with wallets and extensions to standardize better multisig signing experiences.

We also wanted to fully support ETH-like chains (e.g., Moonbeam) across Multix and the associated libraries.

To be clear: our intention was never to “just keep the lights on.” The plan required growing our team and working towards those ambitious goals, and we were only interested because we believed there was alignment (and budged) to make that possible.

That’s also why we invested significant time reviewing the codebase and preparing a concrete plan for how we would take Multix forward.

Why Multix is shutting down

In the final stretch (after the repository, domain, indexer, and infrastructure were transferred to us) we were informed that the DeFi Infra Bounty would not be able to fund the initiative.

We reached out to both Parity and W3F to explore alternatives and explain the situation clearly:

  • Multix has non-trivial running costs.
  • We had already invested substantial time preparing the transition and roadmap.
  • We were open to other funding paths or solutions.

So far, we haven’t found a workable path forward.

Given the current situation, and the fact that Thibaut’s original plan was to shut Multix down at the end of the year, we can’t responsibly commit to ongoing infrastructure and maintenance without funding.

Therefore, we will be shutting down Multix on January 1, 2026.

We genuinely wish this had gone differently.

Timeline of events

  • Oct 28, 2025: Thibaut announces Multix will shut down at the end of the year.
  • Oct 30, 2025: Alberto (Papermoon) reaches out to ask whether we’d take over Multix. From the start, we make it clear we would only do so if there was budget to support not just maintenance, but meaningful improvements. Alberto supports the direction and says the DeFi Infra Bounty could help fund it.
  • Nov 10, 2025: First meeting with Thibaut to discuss plans. He’s supportive and happy that a team would continue Multix.
  • Nov 13, 2025: We publicly announce that the PAPI team will take over Multix.
  • Nov 16, 2025: In-person meeting during Sub0 with Nico and Alberto to discuss budget and roadmap. We’re asked to fill out a form; discussions are supportive.
  • Dec 1, 2025: Seeing that W3F is closing bounties, we reach out to ask whether Multix is safe given our plan to rely on DeFi Infra Bounty support. We’re told they do not intend to close bounties that are working well.

It would be counter productive to close bounties like DeFi bounty which are working

  • Dec 9, 2025: Thibaut transfers infrastructure (domain, indexer, etc.) to us.
  • Dec 18, 2025 (EOD): Alberto informs us that due to the new OpenGov situation, the DeFi Infra Bounty won’t be able to support Multix.
  • Dec 19, 2025: We reach out to W3F to find an alternative solution. We explain the operational costs and the work already invested. We say we’re open to alternatives, but we can’t keep Multix running without funding. We’re told they will discuss internally and get back to us.
  • Dec 22, 2025: We reach out again suggesting we should inform the community that Multix will go offline on Jan 1. We’re thanked for the update, told the message has been relayed, and informed they are on vacation.
11 Likes
3

Sad to hear. Multix was really a handy tool for multisigs.
However multisig wallets are really a pain point currently in the ecosystem, especially for usecases like cross-chain transfers, doesn’t work with hydration or turtle app. :confused:

2 Likes
4

Yes.

W3F was informed on Dec 19th formally that Multix will be shutdown on January 1st by you. Yes, many of the key personnel are on vacation. You told us to enjoy our vacation! and apologized that you bothered during our vacation time, but you thought this was important to communicate. You have sincerely wished us happy holidays! Happy holidays to you too Josep.

2 Likes
5

Respectfully:

Just to clarify the sequence and why the timeline matters:

On December 1, we reached out because we were planning to rely on the DeFi Infra Bounty to fund ongoing Multix operations and improvements. We were told:

It would be counter productive to close bounties like DeFi bounty which are working

Then, on December 18 (EOD), the bounty curators informed us that the bounty would not be able to support Multix as originally discussed, because they believed the bounty might be closed/affected under the new OpenGov situation. The very next day we tried to talk with them to find an intermediate solution. However, they advised us to reach out to W3F, which we immediately did.

So when we describe this publicly, we’re not trying to point fingers, just sharing what happened and why, given the very short runway to January 1.

And yes, sincerely: I hope you have a good vacation. I just wish the outcome had been different.

6

Sure.

This post has two intented objectives: An announcement that Multix will be closed on January 1st and trail of events showing how dysfunctional the current setup is for ecosystem projects and teams. I guess it also somehow (unintentionally) implied how W3F personnel are partying and vacationing without putting efforts to mitigate the issue.

image
image1496Ă—384 35.3 KB

I’ve used Multix extensively as well. I’ll see what I can do in early January to “keep lights-on” for this useful tool.

4 Likes
7

I think there’s a misunderstanding here, so let me clarify respectfully.

The post has one objective: to explain why Multix is being sunset and to give the community a clear, factual timeline for how we reached that decision. The timeline is included for transparency, not to assign motives or make a broader statement about “dysfunction.”

That wasn’t my intent at all, and I’m sorry if it came across that way.

When I mentioned the vacation, it was purely in the context of explaining why we hadn’t received follow-up yet and why we needed to communicate to users quickly given the Jan 1 deadline, not as a judgement about anyone’s priorities or effort.

Also, regarding the tweet screenshot: I reacted to this comment before it was edited (before the part you highlighted was added). I simply found the two tweets’ timing a bit ironic. Once the extra text was added, I tried to remove my reaction, but Discourse wouldn’t let me.

6 Likes
8

I love the hypocrisy at display here from Parity/W3F.

Just weeks ago Parity leadership publicly referred to community members as “jerks” and no one apologized, not even admitting that they are wrong. The entirely valid concern was dismissed as “unproductive”.

Now you are accusing a community member for something even I couldn’t infer.

Can I ask you to stop your unproductive accusations?

9

Understood.

The trail of events you have outlined indeed show the current setup is dysfunctional in handling issues like Multix shutting down on January 1st and this is coming from me. I see that the current framework is not working well for ecosystem teams and that is the truth. I repeat, I’ve used Multix extensively as well. I’ll see what I can do in early January to “keep lights-on” for this useful tool.

@sorpaas Hey, I guess we never interacted 1:1. Wishing you happy holidays too.

2 Likes
10

Hoping a realistic solution can be made, of all the MultiSigs this was my favorite one! It was the initial one I learned, to be fair!

If there is a way to compile tech tools like these and dedicate a team to upgrade and maintain, I would believe this can be useful moving forward as it’s a distribution.

1 Like
13

Defi bounty is well funded with $1.6M balance remaining. I wonder whats the issue? Will this bounty be closed as well?

image
image474Ă—336 14.3 KB

14

Hi, It seems that you took my comment as if it was coming from Multix team. Just for clarity, I have no affiliation to Multix at all. I’m only a neutral polkadot user for several years, a bit confused with the current state.

Edit: edited out extra unnecessary comment.

1 Like
16

Honestly, I don’t know whether the bounty will be closed. What I can share is what we were told and what we asked for.

As you point out, the DeFi Infra Bounty appears well funded. Our request was simple: cover Multix’s Q1 2026 costs upfront, because (1) the infra costs are significant, and (2) we were explicitly told by the bounty side that there was a real chance the bounty could be closed during the first quarter. In that scenario, we’d be taking on material risk: paying costs and doing the work, then potentially being unable to get reimbursed.

At the last minute, Alberto told us the funding discussion should be redirected to W3F instead. That didn’t seem like a realistic path given two constraints:

  1. Time: W3F/Parity/W3F internal alignment is typically slow, and the Jan 1 deadline was already very close.
  2. Scope gating: W3F also told us they would only support parts of our next OpenGov proposal that Parity signs off on, and we have no reason to believe Parity would sign off on funding Multix work (especially on short notice).

Alberto’s position was that paying 3 months upfront “wasn’t worth it.” I disagreed: it would have prevented Multix from going offline on Jan 1. After that exchange, I immediately reached out to W3F to try to find any alternative.

As I said last week:

Once again: we are more than happy to discuss a solution so that Multix doesn’t go offline.

Practically, a few options that would have prevented a shutdown were:

  1. Talk with the bounty curators, with whom I know that you have been in contact with, and ask them to cover the infra costs of the first quarter of 2026.
  2. A small grant to cover Q1 while a longer-term path is worked out. We all can see that the W3F keeps on making these kinds of payments.
  3. Requested us to make a small OpenGov proposal for Q1 costs, which the W3F voting power could make it pass almost immediately.

Had we seen any of these gestures indicating a minimal commitment we wouldn’t be sunsetting Multix. However, given the fact that everything seems to indicate that Multix is no longer a project that is seen as important/strategical, combined with the lack of a funded path, and the fact that we can’t carry the costs ourselves, the responsible decision is to shut it down.

5 Likes