Anichess $CHECK staking and token migration from Abstract to Base

Anichess is asking stakers and holders to move their $CHECK from the Abstract chain to Base before Abstract shuts down on December 15, 2026. The Public Staking Pool already runs on Base, and the studio says its games are unaffected.

What is happening

Abstract announced on October 6 that it will close its chain on December 15, 2026, and warned that funds not bridged off the network by that date will become inaccessible. In response, Anichess posted on X that its games already operate on Base and that any $CHECK, whether staked or sitting idle, needs to be moved before the cutoff. Stakers are directed to a migration page at anichess.com/staking/migrate, while holders with tokens still on Abstract are pointed to a bridge.

Abstract's own exit options include the Migration Hub at migrate.abs.xyz and its native bridge, which carries a three-hour delay, with Stargate listed as a third-party route. DefiLlama data showed roughly $76 million in bridged value still on Abstract as of October 7.

The move reverses an earlier split. After $CHECK was named the game's native token in November 2025, staking, claims and M8 points accrual shifted to Abstract, while liquidity and trading stayed on Base through Aerodrome Finance. Anichess began its return to Base in August with an M8 migration opt-in, and on October 2 it loaded 300,000 M8 into its public staking pool for distribution over 30 days.

The announcement focused on the Public Staking Pool and did not mention the Queen of Time OG pool, which is limited to Season 1-4 players and Ethernal holders.

Why it matters

For holders and stakers, the deadline is firm: Abstract's updated terms of service state that no recovery process is guaranteed once normal transaction processing ends. Anyone with $CHECK still on Abstract, staked or not, would need to act before December 15 to keep access to those tokens.

For the project, consolidating on Base removes the need to switch between two chains to stake, claim rewards, trade or provide liquidity. Abstract's shutdown follows the closure of another Ethereum layer 2, Blast, announced on October 2, which highlights the operational risk of relying on smaller networks.

Key details

• Date: December 15, 2026 (Abstract shutdown and migration deadline)
• Project: Anichess
• Coins: CHECK
• Category: Staking
• Status: Confirmed
• Source: egamers.io; official migration page: anichess.com/staking/migrate