Polygon’s zkEVM chain, previously known as Hermez, incurred over $1 million in annual losses and was eventually shut down despite a $250 million acquisition in 2021.

Quotes that support claims

Soon Polygon zkEVM will shut down. Quick recap: >Polygon acquired Hermez for $250M in 2021 >Rebranded to Polygon zkEVM >Development quietly abandoned >Never upgraded to use Blobs, chain runs at 1M$+ loss/y >Announce chain will shut down

In a separate X thread, researcher and founder of the student-run RWTH blockchain, Lorenz Lehmann, noted Polygon bought Hermez for $250 million in 2021, rebranded it as zkEVM, and then "quietly abandoned" development, leaving the network to rack up more than $1 million in annual losses.