Soul Labs, the team behind the Soul Protocol, has delayed its mainnet launch by more than two months. @0xSoulProtocol has pushed the date back from October 19, 2026, to January 5, 2027. In a
Soul Labs, the team behind the Soul Protocol, has delayed its mainnet launch by more than two months. @0xSoulProtocol has pushed the date back from October 19, 2026, to January 5, 2027.
In a statement to users, the team acknowledged the setback. "We know this is another delay and that many of you were looking forward to finally using Soul," it said.
The team says the decision comes down to security. It noted that no amount of testing can make software risk-free, but said that does not reduce its responsibility to carry out the work thoroughly.
Security reviews have been part of Soul's plans for some time. A project roadmap published on the xLaunchpad sale page listed a third-party security audit and final security testing as milestones ahead of and around the mainnet release. The same page said the launch depended on audit progress.
To keep the community informed, Soul Labs has pledged to publish a report every month in the run-up to the mainnet launch. The reports are expected to cover progress and updates.
Soul is a cross-chain lending project. According to OAK Research, the protocol lets users deposit, borrow and optimise assets across major lending platforms such as Aave, Morpho and Compound, regardless of the network they are on. OAK Research also says it unifies borrowing capacity and collateral across integrated protocols and chains, so users do not need to manage fragmented positions or bridge manually.
The Defiant reported that the product is powered by LayerZero, with Wormhole and Axelar used as fallback systems. Soul's testnet launched in April 2025 and had drawn close to 140,000 users when The Defiant covered it.
The project's native token, $SO, has been linked to the mainnet release. The xLaunchpad page said the token generation event is tied to the mainnet launch, which means the new January date is likely to affect the timing of the token's debut. Soul Labs has not said in the material reviewed how the delay changes its token plans.
This is not the first time the timeline has moved. The xLaunchpad page gave an expected launch in the first half of Q1 2026, while its roadmap pointed to a 2025 mainnet release. Soul Labs itself describes the latest change as another delay.
For users and testnet participants, the monthly reports will be the main way to track whether the January 5, 2027 target holds.
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