In a notable shift within the Web3 landscape, two significant decentralized finance (DeFi) projects have announced their departure from Discord, signaling a potential end to the “community era” as we know it. On January 14, 2026, Anton Cheng revealed that the DeFi lending protocol Morpho will close its public Discord server, transitioning to a read-only mode starting February 1, 2026. From that date forward, all user inquiries and support will be redirected to their official help page at morpho.org/contact.
Shortly after, DefiLlama“s 0xngmi echoed this decision, confirming that his platform will also be “moving away” from Discord. Like Morpho, DefiLlama intends to implement professional customer support systems, including on-platform chat and email ticketing, to enhance user experience.
The driving force behind these exits appears to be security concerns. According to 0xngmi, protecting users on Discord has become increasingly challenging. Despite the efforts of moderators to eliminate scammers in public channels, these malicious actors can still target individuals through private messages, masquerading as support staff to compromise wallets. Cheng also highlighted issues surrounding bot scraping, which involves automated programs extracting user data from channels. This practice often leads to the creation of databases utilized for spamming and targeted phishing attacks.
As these reputable projects pivot towards more structured support systems, there is a growing sentiment that Web3 is evolving to cater more to institutional needs rather than the informal, chaotic interactions typical of Discord”s “degen” chats. The transition towards conventional business communication tools has been gradually unfolding over the years, with many Web3 communities having previously migrated from Discord to Telegram. Now, the trend suggests a further shift towards established business platforms.
This evolution reflects a broader trend in the cryptocurrency space, where security and professionalism are becoming paramount as the industry matures. The move away from Discord could signify a pivotal moment in community management, as projects strive to foster safer environments for their users while navigating the complexities of the digital finance landscape.
