Introduction: On November 17, 2025, DappRadar announced its closure. The demise of this industry "living fossil," which operated for seven years, marks not just the end of a data platform but a brutal judgment on the entire Web3 infrastructure business model. When a "lighthouse" goes out, what we see is not just darkness, but the problems with the navigation itself.

Author: BlockWeeks

Just yesterday, the DappRadar team's open letter announcing the end put a period on this platform, which has been a barometer for the industry since 2018. The official reason given—"financial sustainability is difficult in the current market environment"—though brief, carries immense weight.

DappRadar was once our "Google" for understanding this chaotic, emerging decentralized world. From tracking the TVL of DeFi protocols to witnessing the NFT frenzy, and then the rise and fall of GameFi, it was an essential tool for nearly every Web3 player, developer, and analyst.

However, its downfall was not without warning. The tragedy of DappRadar is a classic metaphor for the "tragedy of the commons" in Web3 infrastructure, exposing a core issue that the industry is most reluctant to face: when everything can be tokenized, who will pay for the most basic services?

The Curse of "Free": The Original Sin of Web3 Traffic Entry

DappRadar's rise stemmed from its Web2-style success path: providing free, comprehensive data to capture a massive user base and become a traffic entry point.

In the wild growth era of DApps in 2018, DappRadar was like the "App Store for DApps," meeting the market's most urgent need—"Where can I find these novel things?" By aggregating multi-chain data, it successfully positioned itself as the "lighthouse" of the Web3 world.

But the "original sin" of this model was also sown at that moment:

• Low willingness to pay from users: Crypto users have become accustomed to "free" and "airdrops." They are willing to pay for "Alpha" but not for "infrastructure." DappRadar provided the "map," but users only wanted to pay for the "treasure."

• Weak monetization model: DappRadar's main revenue sources (such as advertising and project listing fees) were highly dependent on market sentiment. In a bull market, projects rushed to pay for "homepage recommendations"; in a bear market, these revenues evaporated instantly. This "relying on the weather" model made its financial situation extremely fragile.

They attempted to address this issue with a "Pro" paid version, but it never transformed into a core revenue pillar. DappRadar awkwardly found itself stuck in the middle: for ordinary users, it was "useful but not essential"; for professional institutions (B-end), its data depth was not on par with Nansen or Dune.

$RADAR Token: A "Cure" or a "Lifeline"?

When the free model of Web2 became unviable, DappRadar picked up the "universal cure" of Web3—issuing a token.

At the end of 2021, DappRadar launched the $RADAR token and boldly announced its transition to a DAO. At the time, this seemed like a brilliant move:

1. Incentivizing users: Encouraging users to contribute data through "Contribute-to-Earn."

2. Financing for survival: The token issuance itself was a large-scale fundraising effort.

3. Building a moat: Attempting to lock in users with DAO and "community ownership" to fend off competition.

However, in hindsight, $RADAR did not solve DappRadar's core business model issues; instead, it became the final piece that crushed it.

The token did not bring about a "community," but rather "speculators." The price of $RADAR was highly tied to market cycles. When the market declined and the token price plummeted, the so-called "community" disintegrated instantly. Worse still, the introduction of the DAO brought significant governance costs and decision-making delays, as the team had to serve not only "users" but also "token holders."

As the market cap and treasury reserves of $RADAR continued to shrink in the bear market, it not only failed to become a "cure" but accelerated the deterioration of its financial situation. This reveals a harsh truth: Tokens are not a business model; they are merely a (very inefficient in a bear market) capital tool.

The Lost "Data Infrastructure": Do We Really Need a "DApp Store"?

The fall of DappRadar also provoked more macro-level reflections: In the mature stage of Web3, do we still need a centralized "DApp application store"?

DappRadar's model essentially mimicked Web2 (App Store / Google Play). But in Web3, user behavior paths are undergoing fundamental changes:

• Extreme decentralization of entry points: Channels for discovering new projects are no longer "app stores," but KOLs on Twitter (X), Alpha groups on Telegram/Discord, social protocols like Farcaster, and even on-chain data.

• "Wallets" becoming entry points: Wallets like MetaMask and Phantom are integrating more and more DApp interaction functions, becoming the closest "super entry" to users.

• "Intent" replacing "search": In the future, users may no longer need to "search" for DApps but express "intent" through AI assistants, with backend protocols automatically assembling the optimal DApp path.

DappRadar tried to be the "map," but the terrain of Web3 is changing too rapidly, and users are starting to bring their own "GPS" (wallets) and "AI guides" (intent). The "directory-style" data services represented by DappRadar may be on the verge of obsolescence.

Conclusion: After the Lighthouse Goes Out, Where Does the Industry Go?

The closure of DappRadar marks the end of the "classical Web3" era of 2018. It serves as a mirror reflecting the common dilemmas faced by all Web3 infrastructure projects.

Its downfall leaves us with several heavy reflections:

1. Sustainability is paramount: Any Web3 project, no matter how grand its narrative, must ultimately answer one question: Where does your revenue come from? Relying on token financing and treasury speculation is ultimately a house of cards.

2. Redefining "infrastructure": The truly indispensable "infrastructure" consists of services that developers (B-end) and professional users (Pro) are willing to pay for (like Alchemy, Nansen, Dune). Services like DappRadar that cater to C-end "general data" may have their commercial value severely overestimated.

3. Beware of the "DAO panacea": DAOs are not a refuge from business model challenges. An entity without revenue-generating capabilities, even if cloaked in "decentralization," cannot survive in a harsh bear market.

BlockWeeks believes that although the "lighthouse" of DappRadar has gone out, navigation will continue, and its data void will soon be filled by new competitors. However, the question posed by DappRadar over seven years and its eventual downfall—"How should Web3's public infrastructure survive?"—remains the most urgent challenge for the industry to address.

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