- The 2021 bull market saw higher number of project failures.
- Things improved in 2023, with just about 10% of all listed cryptos failing.
Cryptocurrencies have evolved from a lesser-known jargon to a popular financial investment over the years. With the clearance of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the spot prices of world’s largest crypto asset Bitcoin [BTC], the mainstream adoption was expected to accelerate further.
But do you know most cryptocurrencies in general end up failing?
More than half of cryptos have gone into oblivion
According to a study by crypto market tracker CoinGecko, of the over 24,000 cryptocurrencies listed on the platform since 2014, more than 50% have died.
Source: CoinGecko
The report revealed that most of the failed crypto projects were launched during the 2020-21 bull market.
This is understandable considering that the market’s exponential growth led to the emergence of many cryptos during that time, which ultimately failed to stand the test of time.
As many as 7,530 cryptos launched during the aforementioned period are now defunct, equating to more than half of all dead cryptocurrencies.
It also came to light that the crypto projects launched during the previous two bull markets of 2021 and 2017 had an astounding 70% failure rate.
This was followed by 2022 listed cryptocurrencies, out of which nearly 60% ended up shutting shop.
Coingecko called a “failed” or “dead” cryptocurrency as one which didn’t show any trading activity within the last 30 days. This infamous category also included projects that were proved to be a scam or a rug pull, or when the founding team itself requested that they be deactivated.
But if this dismal news has made you reconsider your crypto investments, hold your horses!
2023 marked a sharp decline
Things improved considerably in the last year, with just about 10% of all listed cryptos failing. The steep drop indicated market maturity, with more serious initiatives gaining traction rather than shitcoins.
As more investments start pouring due to TradFi exposure, one can only expect the failure rate to dip further.
As of this writing, CoinGecko tracks more than 12K cryptos spread across 972 exchanges.