Over 100 Crypto Projects Have Been Shut Down in 2026, Industry Experiencing ".com Bubble-like" Major Restructuring

BlockBeats News, August 9th, more than 100 cryptocurrency projects have closed, filed for bankruptcy, or ceased operations permanently since 2026, and the exit rate is accelerating. In just one week in late July, BitMEX, BitMart, Movement Labs, and Storj Labs announced closure or filed related applications. The exiting projects cover cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets, DeFi lending protocols, NFT markets, and Layer 1 blockchains; the Polkadot parachain Moonbeam also permanently ceased operations on July 31st, with user funds that were not promptly bridged being stuck.

This round of clearing is described as an industry restructuring similar to the post-Internet bubble burst. The number of Ethereum's general-purpose Layer 2s grew rapidly in 2023, but as the deployment barrier for chains lowered, the market became increasingly crowded, and projects lacked differentiation. Espresso Systems CEO Ben Fisch stated that the current consolidation phase is for general-purpose L2s, not all L2s. ARK Invest Research Director Lorenzo Valente also stated that the cryptocurrency industry is undergoing its largest-ever consolidation, with capital becoming more selective, teams and exchanges lacking product-market fit closing down; Hyperliquid and Pump.fun accounted for 67% of total application layer revenue.

The problem with many projects is having usage without traditional revenue in the conventional sense. Many teams use their own tokens to pay engineers, subsidize liquidity, and cover security audit costs. In the recent bear market, most meme coins have dropped by 70% to 90%, rendering token-based fund reserves and operational cycle estimates ineffective. The DAO governance tool platform Tally once served over 500 protocols, processed over $1 billion in payments, and helped protect up to $800 billion in on-chain value, but still closed due to a lack of a sustainable business model for governance tools. Security incidents have further accelerated project exits. Blockaid estimates that blockchain attacks incurred losses of $1.1 billion in the first half of 2026, surpassing the total for the entire year of 2025; among them, the Kelp DAO and Drift Protocol incidents each suffered losses of $293 million and $285 million, respectively. TRM Labs estimates that North Korea-affiliated attackers accounted for 66% of the total cryptocurrency attack losses during this period.

Projects that are able to continue growing during a bear market generally rely on USD revenue rather than their native tokens. Hyperliquid surpassed $1 billion in cumulative fees on June 30th, currently holding 70% of the decentralized perpetual futures market; Aave held over $12 billion in deposits as of July, with annualized borrowing fees exceeding $100 million. The commonality among these projects is not the most complex technology, the highest funding, or the largest community, but rather having products for which users are willing to pay.