"Solana and Other 'Ethereum Killers' Once Promising L1 Projects... Now in the Graveyard"

Major Layer 1 (L1) projects that were once spotlighted as competitors to Ethereum (ETH) have recently been criticized for significantly reduced development and ecosystem activities.

On the 12th (local time), cryptocurrency analyst Ignis pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that "most L1 projects that claimed they would surpass Ethereum are now forgotten without gaining attention." Ignis criticized 11 projects by releasing the 2025 version of the 'Ethereum Killer' funeral list.

First, regarding EOS, he said, "It promised a fast and fee-less chain, but what disappeared were the developers and users." He continued, "EOS raised massive funds but is criticized for wasting them."

Regarding TRON (TRX), he criticized it as a "USDT laundromat," saying, "Developers have left, and what remains are only degens and fake trading volumes." He added, "There are also criticisms that TRON's smart contract usage is virtually negligible." 'Degen' refers to market participants who heavily invest in speculative and high-risk cryptocurrencies.

Particularly about Solana (SOL), he said, "The chain that claimed to kill Ethereum has killed itself seven times," adding, "It is now surviving not on technology but on memes."

Regarding NEO, he stated, "The title 'Chinese Ethereum' has now become a coin more banned in China than Facebook," describing it as a "smart graveyard instead of a smart economy."

About Cardano (ADA), he claimed it to be a "decentralized retirement home," saying, "The white paper that took 12 years ultimately just printed 'Hello World'." He added, "There are also evaluations that development activities are stagnant without visible progress." 'Hello World' is a basic example used to practice programming languages.

Regarding Polkadot (DOT), he pointed out, "It created parachains (implementing interchain) but failed to create users," adding, "Only the Discord channel is active, but chain usage is nonexistent."

He also criticized the lack of substantial activities, technological show-offs, and repeated failures of chains like Avalanche (AVAX), Algorand (ALGO), and Tezos (XTZ).

Ignis added, "The term 'Ethereum Killer' should be understood as meaning that it will soon die if it doesn't find a niche market that no one cares about."