2026-01-18 15:26:26

When it comes to the current dilemmas faced by DEXs, technical security and on-chain deployment are no longer the main issues. Where is the real bottleneck? Simply put — it's about retaining users.

This problem may sound a bit abstract, but it truly reflects the market reality. Major DEXs are trying to attract users through various activities and incentive mechanisms, and they are doing pretty well in this aspect. But what happens once these activities end? Users disperse. Driving traffic is easy, but building loyalty is hard — this is the real challenge facing all DEXs.

Ultimately, whether a DEX is cold or vibrant, whether its ecosystem is active or not, determines how far it can go. Relying on short-term operational boosts is doomed to be unsustainable. How to truly retain users and foster stickiness — this is what DEXs need to seriously consider.

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

10 Likes

Reward
10
4
Repost
Share

Comment

0/400

ShibaOnTheRun

· 6h ago

You've hit the nail on the head. Burning money to incentivize like this is pointless; as soon as the event ends, people leave faster than anyone else. Really, DEXs need to think about how to retain users, that's the real issue. During the event, everyone is enthusiastic, but once it's over, it becomes dead... We've seen this trick too many times. Honestly, it's still a lack of differentiation. Why should I trade on your platform? An ecosystem that isn't lively enough will eventually fall behind. Instead of spending a lot of money to acquire new users, it's better to figure out how to make people stick around. This is indeed a shortcoming. Having traffic without retention is just a waste of time.

View OriginalReply0

FrontRunFighter

· 6h ago

nah this is just symptoms of the real problem - most dexes are dark forests running sandwich attacks on retail liquidity. ofc people bounce when there's no actual fairness under the hood

Reply0

PanicSeller69

· 6h ago

Bro, that really hits home. DEXs are like Schrödinger's exchanges—once the activities stop, they disappear. The incentive mechanism is like drug addiction; everyone gets hooked. Once the supply stops, it's an immediate Waterloo. Truly sticky products don't have to worry about traffic. Right now, DEXs are still using old tricks. If the ecosystem can't be built, no matter how good the data looks, it's all just virtual. That's why I still trust the user experience of centralized exchanges more. DEXs need to figure out what they can offer that CEXs can't. Relying solely on incentives is doomed to fail.

View OriginalReply0

SeasonedInvestor

· 7h ago

If you can't beat the volume, you have to find ways to retain people. Nowadays, it's all about spending money to buy traffic—who has genuine stickiness? As soon as the events stop, they run away. I do the same thing, haha. For a DEX to stay popular for a long time, it still needs to rely on the inherent attractiveness of its ecosystem, not just airdrops and referral rewards. Honestly, most DEXs are just a temporary craze, lacking staying power. Where is the true competitiveness? That's the key.

View OriginalReply0