DeFi Protocols Move Away From Discord Over Public Channel Scams
A growing consensus now suggests that several decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms are preparing to exit Discord as a primary communication channel with users. The shift reflects rising concerns around public channel , bot activity, and user securety, which have become persistent issues on the platform.
Many of these protocols are now transitioning to ticketing systems and assist desk platforms to manage user support and engagement. By doing so, they aim to streamline communication, reduce noise, and create securer touchpoints for users.
The trend became more visible following a Wednesday statement from Morpho, a leading , which announced plans to convert its general Discord channel from open discussions to a read-only format. The channel previously allowed users to interact freely with both community members and the core team.
Morpho that the change will take effect on February 1. Speaking further on the decision, Anton Cheng, a founder who builds on Morpho’s lending infrastructure, explained the reasoning behind the move.
According to Anton, the shift follows a sustained rise in scams and malicious activity targeting users. He noted that the team saw the move as an opportunity to reset how they engage with their community.
“This could be a trend for other protocols too. Scams, bot scraping, or simply too much noise might be at play.”
He added that more DeFi teams may follow suit as they increasingly focus on institutional users rather than open community channels.
Not just Morpho
Morpho is not alone in this approach. 0xngmi, a well-known data platform founder, also confirmed that his team has begun making similar changes, citing the growing hardy of protecting users on Discord.
“Discord makes it impossible to protect your users from getting scammed. Even if you ban scammers instantly, they can still DM users directly to scam them.”
This vulnerability has made it harder for teams to guarantee secure interactions, especially for new users who may struggle to distinguish legitimate messages from fraudulent ones.
Scam activity continues to rise
Scam activity across the crypto space has remained elevated, with industry estimates showing in 2025 to fraud, phishing, and impersonation schemes. The persistent scale of these losses highlights how exposed users remain, despite increased awareness and security efforts.
, have played a role in recovering portions of stolen funds. However, these interventions have not been enough to curb the overall trend.
Merlin Egalite, co-founder of Morpho, said the ongoing situation pushed the team to explore alternative support tools, including Intercom.
“We’ve been testing Intercom so far, and it has made support far easier. Instant translation, assist centers, AI support bots, ticket management, and more.”
He noted that the transition has already improved the user experience and allowed the team to provide more structured and secure support.
Not a unanimous decision
Despite leaders in the space openly sharing their teams’ struggles with Discord and the security risks involved, not everyone supports a full departure from the platform.
0xngmi, that while his team has experimented with moving away from Discord, the transition revealed a key drawback. According to him, some users strongly prefer Discord, and removing it entirely risks losing valuable feedback.
He explained that during months of testing the shift, the team observed that certain users would simply stop engaging if Discord was no longer an option, rather than move to alternative support channels.
“There are some users that really want to use Discord. If you drop Discord, they will just not send feedback at all instead of using another channel.”
To strike a balance, DeFiLlama implemented a gateway system that directs new users to open support tickets first, while still allowing access to Discord for those who complete a captcha verification. The approach assists reduce bot activity while preserving a space for community-driven discussion.
A pseudonymous X user, llamaonthebrink, also warned that abandoning Discord could remove a core element of the DeFi experience.
“One of the allures of DeFi was that you could simply pop into a project’s Discord and find fellow users who share product experiences, make suggestions, provide feedback, and follow development discussions.”
They added that they hope the trend does not spread across the entire DeFi ecosystem, arguing that it could fragileen builder culture and reduce organic community contribution.
