[Hats Finance Announces Shutdown of Operations, Custodial Services to Go Offline on December 31, 2025] Hats Finance has announced that it will cease both front-end and back-end custodial services on December 31, 2025, citing issues such as sustainability challenges, lower-than-expected demand for the HATS token, insufficient smart contract security budgets to keep up with DeFi developments, and the maturity of AI security tools and reusable smart contract modules reducing demand. The Hats protocol will remain deployed on-chain and managed by the DAO, with core contracts continuing to operate. An IPFS version of the front end is currently available, but the team cannot guarantee its continued accessibility. Users who wish to withdraw funds are advised to initiate requests via the custodial interface by December 17, 2025, or interact directly with the contracts.