Some protocols that had real traction still died this cycle. One had $359M TVL across multiple L2s. Another did $4B+ in volume. This cycle didn't just kill bad projects, it also killed ones that were working. A quick look at the crypto graveyard: @zerolendxyz hit $359M TVL across multiple L2s with real lending activity. But lending on L2s is a margin game, and the margins never got good enough. Oracle providers started dropping support on smaller chains, a quietly handled exploit on Base added pressure, and the team chose to wind down instead of pretending it was still viable. @PolynomialFi did $4B+ in cumulative volume across 27M transactions and 22K users. Cancelled their token launch and shut down both the chain and the trading platform. @DappRadar was the default dapp tracker for years. 18K+ dapps, 93 chains, 500K monthly users. But every new chain that launched meant more data infrastructure to maintain with no extra revenue to show for it. @AngleProtocol built EURA, the largest euro stablecoin in DeFi at its peak. By the time the DAO voted to wind down, it had dropped to 10th place with under $4M in circulation. Four people voted... @leap_wallet supported 100+ Cosmos chains, backed by CoinFund and Pantera. Sunset with no specific reason. Most likely due to the Cosmos ecosystem never taking off. @milky_way_zone raised $5M from Polychain and Binance Labs for liquid staking on Celestia, but the DeFi wave on Celestia never showed up. @SlingshotCrypto raised $18M from Framework, Coinbase, and Winklevoss Capital. Shut down February 2026 with zero public explanation. What can we learn from this? Ultimately, all protocols are businesses. TVL, users, and brand are advantages, but none of them replace revenue and margins. And without enough margins, protocols can't sustain in the long term.(Edgy - The DeFi Edge 🗡️)