March 28, 2025 — Web3 is entering a transformative phase as leading platforms like Uniswap and Kraken shift away from general-purpose blockchains in favor of custom-built appchains. This trend signals a broader migration within the industry toward more specialized, efficient, and scalable infrastructure tailored to the specific needs of large-scale decentralized applications.
Outgrowing General-Purpose Chains
For years, Ethereum, Solana, and Base have been critical to the success of decentralized finance (DeFi) by providing foundational ecosystems, network effects, and user liquidity. These general-purpose chains catalyzed early-stage innovation in Web3.
However, as platforms mature and scale, their limitations become more apparent. Shared infrastructure often comes with trade-offs: congestion, high fees, rigid tokenomics, and limited customization. Large projects now find themselves constrained by the very platforms that helped them grow.
Uniswap’s recent launch of UniChain, a custom Layer 2 solution, exemplifies this shift. Meanwhile, Kraken is building its own Ethereum L2 Superchain to improve efficiency and user experience. These moves highlight the growing demand for purpose-built infrastructure that offers enhanced control, performance, and cost optimization.
The Appchain Advantage
Appchains, or application-specific blockchains, are designed to serve the unique needs of a particular project. They provide multiple advantages:
- Scalability: Projects gain dedicated blockspace, removing competition with other dApps and allowing for faster, more reliable transactions.
- Cost Efficiency: By customizing fee structures, projects can eliminate unnecessary gas costs—especially important for high-frequency platforms like trading protocols or gaming ecosystems.
- Customization: Teams can design infrastructure tailored to specific use cases, such as removing fees for gamers or supporting specialized token mechanics.
Appchains are also making blockchain more appealing to Web2 companies. Enterprises used to highly optimized systems can adopt blockchain technology on their own terms, using appchains to integrate tokenized experiences while maintaining UX standards.
Addressing the Interoperability Concern
Historically, the biggest criticism of appchains was ecosystem fragmentation. Critics warned that launching independent chains could splinter liquidity and isolate communities. But recent innovations in interoperability protocols, like LayerZero and Avalanche subnets, have largely addressed this challenge.
Today, appchains can interact seamlessly with broader blockchain ecosystems, allowing asset transfers and data sharing across networks. This means projects no longer have to sacrifice cross-chain functionality for customization.
Entering the L1 Appchain Era
The evolution doesn’t stop at Layer 2. A growing number of projects are pursuing L1 appchains with fully custom consensus mechanisms and tokenomics. Unlike general-purpose chains with fixed models, appchains allow projects to design incentive structures that align long-term interests between users, builders, and validators.
This added control fosters sustainable growth and deepens community engagement, positioning appchains as the future foundation for scalable and resilient blockchain ecosystems.
A New Chapter for Web3 Infrastructure
The shift from shared blockchains to custom appchains is more than a trend—it’s a structural evolution in how decentralized applications are built and deployed. With tailored performance, economic efficiency, and design freedom, appchains offer the flexibility Web3 projects need to scale without compromise.
As the infrastructure layer of Web3 continues to mature, appchains will likely become the default architecture for ambitious platforms looking to control their own destiny in a decentralized world. Builders who invest in appchain infrastructure today will be the leaders of tomorrow’s blockchain economy.
