Too many web3 projects fail to generate any revenue and build any sort of a sustainable business model.
On hive they are built on a very small scale and never build in revenue streams to survive and to grow to a larger scale. The two notable expectations are inleo and splinterlands who have managed to earn some revenue and have expanded their reach over time since they had a bit of runway to grow.
In the wider crypto world most projects rely on hype and investors to fuel their growth before hitting a dead end when they run out of funding and realize that they have no product either.
One of the big gaming platforms of the moment is Illuvium who have built a couple of small poorly planned games but have had huge hype behind them and lots of money to get there.
Now they are in trouble when development didn't match plans and they over reached to try and get there.
Splinterlands had a similar moment two years ago in the bear market where they had some initial success but overplayed their hand and couldn't sustain the money they were spending over a long period of time.
They restructured, cut costs, paused some developments and went into survival mode. It cost them users and money but they are still here backed by a hardcore community of users that were used to bear markets and prices dipping.
Can illuvium say the same?
Will their userbase stick by them or move onto the next fad...
A reality of web3 right now is that the majority of users are only in it for a quick profit and have little to no interest in the projects themselves. We are almost unique on hive with this as we have build our brands around the blockchain. We interact together and build relationships on the chain.
It is probably the only reason that hive still exists as a lot of the projects built here have never become profitable and take more value form the chain than they generate.
First, many Web3 projects lack a clear, viable revenue model. Traditional businesses rely on straightforward strategies like subscriptions, sales, or advertising, but Web3 often hinges on tokenomics—issuing tokens to fund development and hoping they accrue value through speculation or ecosystem use. This approach can raise initial capital (e.g., through ICOs or token sales), but it doesn’t guarantee recurring revenue. If the token’s utility is vague or adoption stalls, the project becomes a speculative bubble with no underlying cash flow. For instance, protocols like Uniswap generate massive transaction volume but often retain little as "protocol revenue," leaving most value to liquidity providers rather than the project itself. Without a plan to capture value—beyond hoping users pay transaction fees or hold tokens—revenue remains elusive.
Ref: Grok
At least the peakd team have started trialing ads. This is a huge bonus in my opinion even if they say the results are underwhelming. It is adding a positive effect to the price of hive.
Inleo are building an ad program to try and do the same while increasing use of their dex to bring in swap fees as well. The have premium subscriptions which lock up leo and hbd giving a net positive to the eco-system.
Small steps and insignificant on their own so we need another ten projects doing the same. Keychain are trialing a debit cards that they say is 3 seconds with zero fees. Why not add a small 0.2% fee that buys and burns hive from every transaction.
When we hit a bull market, nobody cares about trying to bring in revenue but if we want to survive the bears it's imperative that projects on hive become self sustainable and add value to the eco-system rather than taking money from the DHF and hurting our whole economy.
If you can build a good project like uniswap then it should be making a healthy profit for the development team and for it's token holders.