As the narrative fades, where are the once-celebrated Web3 projects now?

The essence of failure is not due to the loss of funds or users, but rather the loss of narrative momentum.

Written by: Stacy Muur

Compiled by: Odaily Planet Daily Golem (@web3_golem)

First there is the stage of web3, and then the protagonist will be born.

When a protocol becomes popular, we can see people talking about it endlessly on social media, while all other projects either start to "cater" to it or begin to imitate it. You should understand that feeling; you can definitely feel it on Pump.fun, and 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 cycles.

The harsh reality is that the stage of web3 is always there, the hype will always continue, but the main characters are always frequently replaced. Not because the products have failed, but because people discover something more dazzling. In this field, people's freshness towards novelty is very short-lived, and the spotlight never lingers too long.

This is not an obituary. While not all formerly popular protocols have perished, they have all undergone a cycle from boom to silence. This article tells the story of those projects that once had a halo, and what happens when they are no longer making the headlines.

Who is a "has-been celebrity"

If you stay in web3 long enough, you can see a cycle: a protocol gains popularity, 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 still survive today.

web3 has-been star

Take FriendTech as an example; its rise was rapid and high-profile, but its decline has been complete. There is no roadmap, no user stickiness, and no signs of recovery. After falling from grace, people realize it was just a facade.

Unibot is somewhat better; it has experienced hacking attacks, competition from copies, and market decline, but it is still recognized as having an outstanding 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 transformation is not easy in the crypto space, especially for projects that originated from the 'degen casino.'

Pump.fun and Maestro have not disappeared; the market has just been diluted. They are still operational, still active, and user activity has surged, but no one refers to them as revolutionary anymore. Meme coin minting machines and sniper bot networks were never built for longevity; they were designed for hype. They have indeed achieved that, and not just once.

There are also some slow-burning projects, such as Grass, DeBank, and Farcaster, each with its own characteristics: speculative gains, DeFi social identity, and decentralized social networking, among others. They are not flashy projects, nor have they disappeared; they are simply developing quietly after the hype phase.

Still under construction, still iterating

If the first table measures attention, then the following table focuses on something completely different: perseverance. The hype period of a project can be very lively, but the construction process can be quiet and difficult.

The above agreements, although not hyped by the public, have not stopped developing. This table depicts the lesser-known realities of who continues to drive updates, expand integrations, or strengthen infrastructure long after the spotlight has moved away.

Unfortunately, FriendTech has taken the lead in shutting down, officially closing in September 2024. The remaining projects continue to grow quietly, not on Twitter's timeline, but in the project's update logs.

Peak Activity ≠ Project Longevity

We can always feel when a project is at its peak. Telegram is flooded with messages from followers and some new friends who are not familiar with the topic, and the protocol's website crashes under the pressure of hype. But this state is fleeting; here are some comparisons of data during and after the peak periods of some projects.

Virtuals

Virtuals experienced 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 number of agent creations had dropped to single digits.

Banana Gun (Bananagun)

In July 2024, the user activity of Bananagun peaked at over 700 million. But nine months later, it dropped to only 124.6 million, a decrease of 82%.

Bananagun is still running and in development, but it is no longer the users' first choice. Telegram bots have flooded the market, and sniping has become a norm. The market landscape is constantly changing; Bananagun has not disappeared, but has gradually faded from people's view.

DeBank

DeBank experienced a surge in multi-chain registrations in mid-2023, but then entered a period of stagnation. By early 2024, new user influx had stopped. The product itself has no flaws; it's just that the market landscape has changed. DeFi social sounds good, but people haven't stayed for it. Perhaps they just used DeBank to track a few wallets and then left.

Farcaster

Farcaster is a model of silent compounding (quiet complication). Since the end of 2024, its daily active users (DAU) have remained stable between 20,000 and 50,000, with consistent user engagement, showing neither a significant spike nor airdrop bait, only genuine usage. While most social protocols are chasing traffic, Farcaster is cultivating habits, which may be its true advantage.

Pump.fun

Pump.fun is like a volcano. At the end of 2024, millions of meme coins were created on its platform, with more than 150,000 new wallets added at its peak. Since then, however, the trend has dropped dramatically, but it has not died. At present, the Pump.fun platform is steadily generating 50,000 to 60,000 memes per day, but it is no longer in the spotlight.

What narratives have we all paid for in the past?

You can track the usage of projects on the dashboard. But the narrative exists elsewhere. To understand this, we must revisit the moment when they truly became extraordinary. FriendTech transforms social influence into liquidity, Pump.fun changes the rules of token issuance, and Farcaster is not just a social application, but a declaration of independence for web3.

People not only use these protocols but also align themselves with them. FriendTech makes us feel influential, Pump.fun makes us feel wise, and Farcaster makes us feel like we are on a platform that is purer than Twitter.

FriendTech

FriendTech's narrative is highly appealing: tokenizing your social graph and monetizing influence. At its peak, it was not merely a SocialFi tool but a symbol of status as an asset. However, this narrative ultimately collapsed under its own weight. There was no roadmap, no engagement loop, and no cultural legacy. This is a rare case where usage, narrative, and product all disappeared simultaneously. It was both a clean rise and a clean demise.

Bananagun

Bananagun tells a narrative of fair competition. Quick sniping, smart token economics, and bots aimed at everyday traders. It thrives amidst the wave of Telegram bots, earning a reputation for being sharper and faster. It is still operational now, still serving traders, but it has become infrastructure, useful yet no longer leading trends.

Unibot

Unibot focuses on trading speed and accuracy. It positions itself as the tool for the sharpest Telegram traders, which is not just a product but an identity. Despite facing competition and even hacking attempts, Unibot's image remains steadfast. Its features continue to expand, and its user base remains strong over time. It does not rely on viral marketing but on reliability. This narrative still holds true today.

Pump.fun

Pump.fun decentralizes token creation and brings with it stories of sudden wealth. At its peak, it felt like a new token was born every 10 seconds, but the market soon became saturated. Today, it is still active, but the magic is gone. The narrative of "Anyone can issue a token" has lost its luster in "PVP".

Virtuals

Virtuals initially started as a speculation hub based on Base, understanding attention, but later evolved to dominate attention. It shifted towards an AI agent platform, redefining itself as a narrative larger than prediction markets. Now, it no longer chases memes but is building infrastructure. "The Wall Street of AI agents" is a bolder and more enduring narrative, and it is one of the few protocols in this article capable of rewriting its own narrative.

DeBank

DeBank tells the market that users' DeFi portfolios can constitute their identity, making wallet tracking social. This narrative once worked effectively but has since stagnated. DeBank's products remain fully functional and are 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 good enough to be hard to ignore, yet lacks sufficient allure for proactive promotion.

Farcaster

The original intention of Farcaster is: to own your social. It does not attempt to replicate Twitter, but rather reimagines the model of on-chain publishing, interaction, and building. The current situation proves one thing: Farcaster has not declined. It has been slowly accumulating trust and appeal, as a long-tail narrative that does not pursue viral distribution will be more resilient.

Which once-popular projects are about to "die"

In addition to the well-known examples mentioned above, some other protocols have also gained significant attention in a short period, but thereafter the user activity, trading volume, or related data has clearly declined. These projects are not marginal; at their peak, they also led the market narrative and attracted strong attention. This section focuses on some of these cases.

Blast

In the points-driven frenzy of July 2024, Blast's monthly active users peaked at 900,000. Currently, the number of monthly active users is around 120,000, and after user points fatigue emerged, the narrative of earnings quickly vanished.

Scroll

When the hype around zkEVM peaked, Scroll had 1.2 million monthly active users, but it is currently around 111,000. Scroll is still operating, but as the infrastructure shifts towards a performance-first narrative, the market's novelty for it is gradually fading.

Starknet

Starknet once reached a bridge deposit of 1.6 billion dollars, but it is currently around 390 million dollars. Some developers' loyalty still exists, but mainstream adoption has slowed down due to cost and tooling friction.

Renzo Protocol

Renzo's monthly active users peaked at 155,000, currently slightly below 19,000. Although it still holds influence in the liquidity re-staking arena, its brilliance has been overshadowed by stronger participants in the EigenLayer ecosystem.

Sushiswap

Sushiswap's peak trading volume reached 11.3 billion USD. The current trading volume is about 200 million USD. This is a cautionary tale, indicating that fragmentation, governance expansion, and the competition from centralized exchanges (CEX) will weaken the advantages of pioneers.

The above protocols were once regarded as industry leaders. While some of these protocols are still active, their data indicates that the way users interact with them has changed today. Is this decline due to changes in the market environment, the evolution of narratives, or simply because there are more powerful market forces? The lesson for us remains consistent: early growth momentum is not correlated with the project's long-term sustainability.

Conclusion

In web3, most narratives have not disappeared, but rather are no longer being discussed. The projects mentioned in this article were not selected because of failure, but because they had significant importance in a short period of time. Although they did fail, the reason was not that they lost funding or users, but rather that they lost narrative momentum—a difficult-to-measure force that transforms products into action.

The deeper pattern lies in the emotional arc of belief. When this arc flattens, users will leave, not because they are disappointed, but because there is no longer a reason to stay.

This is why long-lasting projects in web3 are so rare. To remain enduring, protocols not only need to be usable, but they must also be vibrant in their narrative. They need to offer more than just returns or tools; they need to provide identity, possibilities, and a reason to say "I'll be back tomorrow."

The next narrative breakthrough in web3 will not only come from solving certain problems but also from a certain meaning. Meanwhile, those projects worth paying attention to are quietly building after the hype, waiting for their second moment.