This proposal has also been discussing on community forum: https://forum.phala.network/t/sunsetting-phala-parachain-and-migrating-to-ethereum-l2/3999
Phala’s parachain slot will expire on November 20, 2025. The network has remained stable with around 65M PHA delegated and nearly 29,000 miners active, continuing to operate on Intel SGX, which has provided a reliable foundation for Phala’s confidential computing to date. Looking ahead, Intel’s confidential-computing roadmap is centered on Intel TDX and complementary GPU-based solutions, which are designed to extend the capabilities pioneered by SGX and to better serve the scalability and requirements of future enterprise adoption.
This proposal recommends sunsetting the Phala parachain and migrating to Ethereum L2, consolidating staking, governance, and confidential compute in a stronger, EVM-aligned ecosystem.
Over the past year, the Phala team has shifted much of its effort to the next generation of confidential computing, focusing on Intel TDX CPUs and GPU Confidential Compute. These technologies are where Intel and the broader industry are investing, and they align closely with the needs we see from enterprise users. We have already conducted early commercial trials in these areas, confirming their potential.
By contrast, the Phala parachain continues to run on Intel SGX, a technology that was groundbreaking when introduced and still provides a stable foundation today. However, Intel has since shifted its roadmap toward Intel TDX and GPU-based confidential computing, which are designed to address broader enterprise requirements and future scalability. These newer technologies build upon the foundation SGX established, but offer a more sustainable path for long-term ecosystem growth and commercial adoption.
Meanwhile, the parachain slot itself is approaching expiration. Keeping it alive would consume significant resources while locking us into an infrastructure with limited scalability. Migrating to L2 instead allows us to:
Thus, we propose to sunset the Phala parachain and fully migrate to Ethereum L2.
In contrast, Phala L2 is already live and functional:
L2 offers lower operational overhead and direct integration with Ethereum liquidity and tooling. It is also the natural home for deploying TDX and GPU-based confidential compute workloads, where we already see early-stage commercial traction.
Moving forward, Phala L2 will serve as the execution layer for GPU and TDX confidential compute, while staking and governance remain secured on Ethereum L1. This dual-layer design ensures continuity for token holders and delegators, while enabling the ecosystem to scale into next-generation confidential compute.
If the proposal passes, the following steps will be executed:
Sep 26th - Oct 15th
First, the community will vote on this proposal to decide whether to proceed with the sunset of the Phala parachain.
If approved, the team will immediately publish a detailed announcement, including a timeline, FAQs, and user guides to ensure everyone understands the process.
Oct 15th - Nov 20th
The team will complete all necessary development work to ensure a smooth migration:
In parallel, we will work with exchanges (Gate.io) to gradually wind down phala parachain deposit/withdrawal support and prepare for L2 integration.
This phase ensures that when the parachain shuts down, all required infrastructure (staking, claiming) and exchange transitions are already in place.
Nov 20th
Upon slot expiration, we will proceed with the shutdown of collators, Gatekeepers, and other parachain infrastructure.
During the execution period, all assets on the Phala parachain will be frozen and cannot be transferred. They will remain safely locked until the asset claim process is opened in Phase 4, at which point users will be able to redeem them into Ethereum L1/L2 through the Phala App.
Users will be informed well in advance of the exact timeline for this shutdown.
Nov 20th - Nov 25th
Phala L2 will officially become the new home for staking, governance, and confidential compute.
Staking will continue through the Ethereum L1 contract, where PHA can be staked and converted into vPHA. vPHA will serve as the functional token within the ecosystem, used for community governance, miner rewards, and other protocol-level utilities.
For asset migration, the Phala App will provide a one-stop interface:
Nov 26th - Nov 30th
Once the migration is complete, governance and treasury management will be conducted on Ethereum L1, using Snapshot + Safe multisig as the primary mechanisms. vPHA will serve as the governance utility token, ensuring that staking participants and miners can fully exercise their voting rights and participate in community decision-making.
Long term plan
On the mining side, participants will run GPU workloads on L2, and their rewards will also be distributed in vPHA. The exchange rate between vPHA and PHA will be automatically adjusted by the L1 staking contract as rewards are distributed, ensuring that users face no asset risk and that all vPHA can always be redeemed back into PHA.
The team will also focus on developing a usage-based settlement model for TDX + GPU compute, and positioning PHA as the core settlement token across these services.
This is not the end of Phala. It’s the beginning of a new chapter, where we embrace Ethereum L2 and the next generation of confidential compute — powered by TDX CPUs and GPU acceleration.
Phala Network is proposing to sunset its parachain and migrate to Ethereum L2. The parachain slot will expire on November 20, 2025, and the network has remained stable with around 65M PHA delegated and nearly 29,000 miners active. Intel's confidential-computing roadmap is now focused on Intel TDX and GPU-based solutions, which are designed to extend the capabilities of SGX and better serve future enterprise adoption. The proposal recommends consolidating staking, governance, and confidential compute in a stronger, EVM-aligned ecosystem.
The migration plan includes community decision and communication, development and exchange preparation, Phala sunset execution, L2 activation and asset migration, governance, and a long-term roadmap. This migration will impact PHA token holders, delegators, miners, developers/partners, and the community, with full asset claimability, uninterrupted staking opportunities, and stronger Ethereum/EVM integrations.
I don't support it either. It's hard to say what other aspects will be changed. The number of participants will definitely drop significantly. If there are no ordinary players in any online game, the big guys will not want to play it.
Edited
The problem isn't Polkadot, but perhaps the team's strategy.
Migrating to Ethereum L2 won’t fix anything if the same mistakes are repeated.
We lose Phala's identity, its community, and become just “another L2
I don't understand what phala officials are thinking, this is a foolish decision. Abandoning Polkadot means losing a large number of customers who support Phala.