The essence of failure is not the loss of funds or users, but the loss of narrative momentum.
Written by: Stacy Muur
Translated by: Odaily Planet Daily Golem (@Web3_golem)
First comes the stage of Web3, then the protagonists will emerge.
When a protocol gains popularity, we can see people talking endlessly about it on social media, while all other projects either start to "flatter" it or begin to imitate it. You should know that feeling; it’s definitely palpable on Pump.fun. If you have been around long enough, you can find the same feeling on platforms like FriendTech, Farcaster, Bananagun, and Unibot, each with its own cycle.
The harsh reality is that the stage of Web3 is always there, the hype will continue, but the protagonists frequently change. Not because the product has failed, but because people have found something more dazzling. In this field, people's freshness towards novelty lasts only a short time, and the spotlight never lingers too long.
This is not an obituary. While not all once-popular protocols have perished, they have all gone through cycles of boom and silence. This article tells the story of those projects that once had a halo, and what happens when they are no longer making headlines.
Who are the "Has-Been Stars"
If you stay in Web3 long enough, you can see a cycle: a protocol rises, occupies everyone’s timeline, and eventually fades away. The table below is a snapshot. It does not measure total locked value (TVL) or token prices; it measures something more elusive: attention, memory, and emotional relevance. These projects were once stars, some of which are still alive today.
Web3 Has-Been Stars
Take FriendTech as an example; its rise was rapid and high-profile, but its decline was complete. There was no roadmap, no user stickiness, and no signs of revival. After falling from grace, people realized it was all just a facade.
Unibot fared slightly better; it experienced hacking attacks, competition from copies, and market downturns, but it is still recognized as having a relatively excellent trading experience among similar products.
Virtuals is one of the few companies that not only survived but also transformed. It started as a prediction platform based on Base and now positions itself as "Wall Street for AI agents." This shift is not easy in the crypto space, especially for projects born in the "degen casino."
Pump.fun and Maestro have not perished; the market has just been diluted. They are still operational, still active, and user activity has surged, but no one now calls them revolutionary. Meme coin creation machines and sniper bot networks were never built for longevity; they were created for sensationalism. They did achieve that, and not just once.
There are also some slow-burn projects, such as Grass, DeBank, and Farcaster, each with its own characteristics: speculative returns, DeFi social identity, and decentralized social networking, respectively. They are not flashy projects, nor have they perished; they have quietly developed after the hype period.
Still Building, Still Iterating
If the first table measures attention, the next table focuses on something entirely different: perseverance. A project's hype period can be lively, but the building process is often quiet and arduous.
Some protocols listed above, although not hyped by the public, have not stopped developing. This table depicts the lesser-known realities of who continues to push updates, expand integrations, or strengthen infrastructure long after the spotlight has moved away.
Unfortunately, FriendTech was the first to give up and officially shut down in September 2024. The remaining projects continue to grow quietly, not on Twitter's timeline, but in their project update logs.
Peak Activity ≠ Project Longevity
We can always feel when a project is at its peak. Telegram becomes unscrollable, the community is filled with followers and some new friends posting half-baked content, and the protocol's website crashes under the weight of hype. But this state is fleeting; here are some comparisons of data from projects during their peak and afterward.
Virtuals
Virtuals saw a peak in agent creation in October 2024, with over 60 new agents created in a single day, followed by a wave of experimentation in November and December. However, by early 2025, the daily agent creation had dropped to single digits.
Bananagun
In July 2024, Bananagun's user activity peaked at over 700 million. But nine months later, it had dropped to only 124.6 million, a decline of 82%.
Bananagun is still running and developing, but it is no longer the first choice for users. Telegram bots have flooded the market, and sniping has become the norm. The market landscape is constantly changing; Bananagun has not perished, but it has gradually faded from view.
DeBank
DeBank experienced a surge in multi-chain registrations in mid-2023, followed by a stagnation. By early 2024, new users had stopped pouring in. The product itself is not flawed; the market landscape has simply changed. DeFi social sounds good, but people did not stick around for it. Perhaps they just used DeBank to track a few wallets and then left.
Farcaster
Farcaster is a model of quiet compounding. Since late 2024, its daily active users (DAU) have remained stable between 20,000 and 50,000, with consistent user engagement, no significant spikes, no airdrop bait, just real usage. While most social protocols chase traffic, Farcaster is cultivating habits, which may be its true advantage.
Pump.fun
Pump.fun is like a volcano. At the end of 2024, it created millions of meme coins on its platform, with over 150,000 new wallets created at its peak. However, the trend sharply declined afterward, but it did not perish. Currently, Pump.fun sees a stable daily creation of 50,000 to 60,000 memes, just no longer under the spotlight.
What Narratives Did We Once Buy Into?
You can track project usage on dashboards. But narratives exist elsewhere. To understand this, we must recall the moments when they were truly remarkable. FriendTech turned social influence into liquidity, Pump.fun changed the rules of token issuance, and Farcaster was not just a social app but a declaration of independence for Web3.
People did not just use these protocols; they aligned themselves with them. FriendTech made us feel influential, Pump.fun made us feel smart, and Farcaster made us feel like we were on a purer platform than Twitter.
FriendTech
The narrative of FriendTech is highly appealing: tokenizing your social graph and monetizing influence. At its peak, it was not just a SocialFi tool but a symbol of status as an asset. But this narrative ultimately collapsed under its own weight. There was no roadmap, no engagement loop, no cultural legacy. It is a rare case where usage, narrative, and product all disappeared simultaneously. It was a clean rise and a clean fall.
Bananagun
Bananagun told a narrative of fair competition. Quick sniping, smart token economics, and bots aimed at everyday traders. It thrived during the wave of Telegram bots, gaining a reputation for being sharper and faster. Now it is still operational, still serving traders, but it has become infrastructure—useful, but no longer trendsetting.
Unibot
Unibot focuses on trading speed and accuracy. It positions itself as the tool for the sharpest Telegram traders, not just a product but an identity. Despite facing competition and even hacking attacks, Unibot's image remains intact. Its features continue to expand, and its user base endures. It does not rely on viral spread but on reliability. This narrative still holds true today.
Pump.fun
Pump.fun decentralized token creation and brought with it stories of sudden wealth. At its peak, it felt like a new token was born every 10 seconds, but the market quickly became saturated. Today, it remains active, but the magic has faded. The narrative of "anyone can issue a token" has lost its luster in "PVP."
Virtuals
Virtuals started as a speculative hub based on Base; it understood attention but later evolved to dominate it. It pivoted to an AI agent platform, redefining itself as a narrative larger than prediction markets. Now, it no longer chases memes but is building infrastructure. "Wall Street for AI agents" is a bolder, more enduring narrative, and it is one of the few protocols in this article that can rewrite its own narrative.
DeBank
DeBank tells the market that users' DeFi portfolios can constitute their identity, making wallet tracking social. This narrative was once effective but has stagnated. DeBank's product remains fully functional and is highly regarded among advanced users, but it has never transitioned from a tool to a network. To some extent, DeBank is a victim of its own user experience stability; it is too good to ignore but lacks enough appeal to be actively promoted.
Farcaster
Farcaster's original intention is to own your social. It does not attempt to replicate Twitter but reimagines the model of on-chain publishing, interaction, and building. The current situation proves one point: Farcaster has not declined. It has been slowly accumulating trust and appeal, and as a long-tail narrative, it is more resilient by not pursuing viral spread.
Which Once-Popular Projects Are Near "Death"
In addition to the well-known examples mentioned above, several other protocols once gained significant attention in a short period but have since seen a noticeable decline in user activity, transaction volume, or related data. These projects are not marginal; at their peak, they led market narratives and garnered strong attention. This section highlights some of these cases.
Blast
During the points-driven craze in July 2024, Blast reached a peak of 900,000 monthly active users. Currently, the number is about 120,000, and after user fatigue with points set in, the narrative of earnings quickly faded.
Scroll
At the peak of zkEVM hype, Scroll had 1.2 million monthly active users, but now it is around 111,000. Scroll is still operational, but as the infrastructure shifts to a performance-first narrative, the market's freshness towards it has gradually diminished.
Starknet
Starknet once saw bridge deposits reach $1.6 billion, but now it is about $390 million. Some developer loyalty remains, but mainstream adoption has slowed due to cost and tooling friction.
Renzo Protocol
Renzo peaked at 155,000 monthly active users, currently slightly below 19,000. While it still holds influence in the liquidity re-staking track, its shine has been overshadowed by more powerful participants in the EigenLayer ecosystem.
Sushiswap
Sushiswap's peak trading volume reached $11.3 billion. Currently, the trading volume is about $200 million. This is a cautionary tale, indicating that fragmentation, governance expansion, and competition from centralized exchanges (CEX) will weaken the advantages of pioneers.
These protocols were once regarded as industry leaders. Although some are still active, their data indicates a shift in how users interact with them today. Is this decline due to changes in the market environment, the evolution of narratives, or simply because stronger market forces have emerged? The lesson remains consistent: early growth momentum is not correlated with a project's long-term sustainability.
Conclusion
In Web3, most narratives have not perished; they are just no longer discussed. The projects in this article were not selected for failure but because they held significant meaning in a short time. While they did fail, the reason was not that they lost funds or users, but because they lost narrative momentum—a difficult-to-measure force that transforms products into actions.
The deeper pattern lies in the emotional arc of belief. When this arc flattens, users leave, not because they are disappointed, but because there is no longer a reason to stay.
This is why long-lived projects in Web3 are so rare. To endure, protocols must not only be usable but also vibrant in narrative. They need to offer more than just yields or tools; they need to provide identity, possibilities, and reasons for "I'll be back tomorrow."
The next narrative breakthrough in Web3 will not merely come from solving certain problems but will also stem from some sense of meaning. The projects worth paying attention to are quietly building after the hype, waiting for their second moment.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
