KEY FACTS: A recent DappRadar report highlights the meteoric rise of AI-powered decentralized applications (DApps) in the Web3 ecosystem, with user activity surging 26.9% in April 2025, challenging the dominance of decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain gaming. These AI-driven DApps, such as LOL and Dmail, leverage automation, neural networks, and decentralized data to offer practical, user-friendly solutions, enhancing transparency and trust. AI DApps are redefining Web3 use cases as they address usability issues and deliver tangible benefits. They attract a broader audience and position themselves as formidable contenders in a rapidly evolving digital space.

---

Source: DappRadar Report

---

AI DApps Surge in User Activity, Challenge Web3 Giants

Decentralized applications (DApps) powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly gaining ground, positioning themselves as formidable contenders for dominance in a space traditionally ruled by decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain gaming. According to a recent report by DappRadar, a leading analytics platform for decentralized applications, AI-driven DApps are experiencing unprecedented growth, with user activity surging by 26.9% in April 2025 alone.

AI and Social dapps on the rise 📈
In April, Web3 held steady at 23M daily wallets, but shifts within sectors are clear.
AI dapps jumped 26% to 3.8M wallets, while Social gained 18% - now challenging the dominance of Gaming and DeFi, both down and tied at 21%.
Is AI about to change the balance of Web3?
Source

The Web3 landscape, built on blockchain technology and characterized by its decentralized, user-centric ethos, has long been dominated by DeFi platforms and blockchain-based games. DeFi facilitates financial transactions without intermediaries, and gaming, with its play-to-earn models, and has driven much of the adoption and investment in Web3. However, the DappRadar report highlights a new wave of innovation: AI-powered DApps are carving out a significant niche, leveraging advanced technologies like automation algorithms, autonomous agents, and neural networks to create intelligent, user-friendly applications.

Sara Gherghelas, a blockchain analyst at DappRadar, attributes this growth to the practical utility of AI DApps. Unlike their predecessors, which often faced criticism for speculative hype, AI-driven applications are delivering tangible benefits. “AI-based DApps are rapidly gaining ground against DeFi and gaming,” Gherghelas noted, pointing to innovations like LOL, a platform gaining traction for its AI-driven features, and Dmail, an AI-based decentralized messaging service. These applications are redefining Web3 use cases by combining machine learning with blockchain’s decentralized data, offering enhanced transparency and trust.

The appeal of AI DApps lies in their ability to integrate sophisticated technologies into the decentralized framework of Web3. By automating complex tasks, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing security, these applications are addressing long-standing pain points in the Web3 ecosystem, such as user-unfriendly interfaces and fragmented networks. For instance, Dmail uses AI to streamline communication in a decentralized environment, while other platforms leverage neural networks to power autonomous agents capable of executing tasks without human intervention.

This “new layer of intelligent Web3,” as Gherghelas describes it, improves functionality and also expands the scope of what decentralized applications can achieve. AI is enabling DApps to offer more robust and intuitive solutions, from predictive analytics in DeFi to personalized experiences in gaming. The result is a Web3 ecosystem that is more accessible and appealing to a broader audience, including users who may have been deterred by the technical complexity of earlier blockchain applications.

The rapid rise of AI DApps poses a direct challenge to the dominance of DeFi and gaming, which have historically accounted for the lion’s share of Web3 activity. DeFi platforms, such as those facilitating lending, borrowing, and trading on blockchains like Ethereum, have been a cornerstone of Web3, with billions of dollars in total value locked (TVL). Similarly, blockchain games like Axie Infinity and The Sandbox have attracted millions of users with their promise of earning crypto rewards through gameplay.

However, the DappRadar report suggests that AI DApps are closing the gap. The 26.9% increase in user activity in April 2025 reflects growing interest in AI-driven solutions, which are proving to be more than just a passing trend. Unlike DeFi, which has faced challenges like high transaction fees and regulatory scrutiny, or gaming, which has struggled with user retention, AI DApps are gaining traction by offering practical, scalable solutions that align with the decentralized ethos of Web3.

A key factor in the success of AI DApps is their reliance on decentralized data, which enhances transparency and fosters trust among users. Blockchain’s immutable ledger ensures that data used by AI algorithms is verifiable and tamper-proof, addressing concerns about data manipulation that plague centralized AI systems. This synergy between AI and decentralized data is proving to be a game-changer, enabling applications that are both intelligent and trustworthy.

For example, platforms like Dmail use decentralized data to ensure that messages are secure and private, while others employ AI to analyze on-chain data for real-time insights. This combination of machine learning and blockchain technology is not only driving innovation but also countering criticisms that Web3 is overly speculative. By delivering practical utility, AI DApps are helping to legitimize the broader Web3 ecosystem in the eyes of skeptics.

The rise of AI-powered DApps shows that Web3 is evolving and continues to push the boundaries of what decentralized technologies can achieve. As DappRadar’s report underscores, the intersection of AI and blockchain is paving the way for a more robust and user-friendly Web3 experience. The rise of AI DApps could accelerate mainstream adoption.

The Web3 throne, long held by DeFi and gaming, is now under siege by a new contender: AI-powered decentralized applications. As DappRadar’s latest report reveals, AI DApps are experiencing explosive growth, driven by their ability to combine intelligent automation with blockchain’s decentralized framework. With user activity surging and innovations like LOL and Dmail leading the charge, AI DApps are redefining the possibilities of Web3. As the ecosystem continues to evolve, the synergy between AI and decentralized technologies promises to unlock new opportunities for developers, users, and investors alike.

---

---

Information Sources:

• Dappradar Report
• DappRadar/ X
• Cointelegraph

---

---

If you found the article interesting or helpful, please hit the upvote button and share for visibility to other hive friends to see. More importantly, drop a comment below. Thank you!

This post was created via INLEO. What is INLEO?

INLEO's mission is to build a sustainable creator economy that is centered around digital ownership, tokenization, and communities. It's built on Hive, with linkages to BSC, ETH, and Polygon blockchains. The flagship application, Inleo.io, allows users and creators to engage & share micro and long-form content on the Hive blockchain while earning cryptocurrency rewards.

---

---

Let's Connect

Hive: inleo.io/profile/uyobong/blog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Uyobong3

Discord: uyobong#5966

---