The Hamster Network blockchain has experienced a catastrophic 99.9% decline in transaction volume just two weeks after its launch, raising serious questions about the platform's sustainability.
Initially positioned as a gaming-focused Layer-2 blockchain supporting the "Hamsterverse" ecosystem, the network briefly outperformed established competitor Solana in transactions per second before activity collapsed. The dramatic reversal casts doubt on whether the platform can recover its initial momentum.
Transaction data reveals the network is currently processing just 0.84 transactions per second, handling only 52,516 transactions in the past 24 hours. This represents a precipitous decline from its launch-day peak when the platform processed nearly 150 million transactions.
"34,028 TPS achieved by Hamster Network! That's 3.5x faster than Solana! Big things are coming! Hamster Network is about to launch an accelerator program for builders to create truly decentralized applications—free from high gas fees and scalability issues," Hamster Kombat announced during its early March peak. The current reality shows a vastly different picture.
Beyond transaction metrics, Hamster Kombat's "tap-to-earn" gameplay has suffered a significant erosion in its player base. The platform has lost over 1.2 million users in just two weeks, with player counts falling from 11.5 million monthly users on February 26 to 10.3 million currently. New user acquisition has essentially halted, with only 12 new accounts created daily.
This decline represents a dramatic fall from the reported 300 million monthly users the platform once claimed. Industry analysts point to several factors behind the collapse.
Much of the network's early success appears to have been driven by speculation surrounding cryptocurrency airdrops rather than genuine interest in the blockchain's capabilities or gameplay experience. The pattern mirrors struggles faced by other play-to-earn games that see engagement plummet once initial financial incentives diminish.
The timing of the decline notably coincides with the conclusion of "GameDev Heroes Combo," a recurring in-game event that provided additional player incentives. Without these promotional rewards, user engagement has rapidly deteriorated.
Hamster Kombat's development team maintains that the L2 network remains in early stages of development. They indicate further stress tests are planned to determine the platform's full technical capabilities. However, the dramatic downturn in both transaction volumes and player engagement underscores the inherent volatility in blockchain gaming projects.
The platform's native token, HMSTR, was trading at $0.002144 as of publication, reflecting a 4% decline in the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko data. Whether developers can revitalize interest in the platform or whether users and investors will continue to see value in the ecosystem remains highly uncertain.