Over Half of Cryptocurrencies Tracked by CoinGecko Have Failed

Of the 24,000 cryptocurrency projects listed on the CoinGecko aggregator since 2014, 14,039 have ceased to exist.

Ever wondered how many cryptocurrencies have failed?

Our study shows that over 50% of all cryptocurrencies have died. Of the over 24,000 cryptocurrencies listed on CoinGecko since 2014, 14,039 have died.

Read the full study: https://t.co/idaxCf0SWH pic.twitter.com/GFjERHU4co

— CoinGecko (@coingecko) January 15, 2024

The majority of these “dead” projects were launched during the bull run of 2020–2021, accounting for 7,530 cryptocurrencies or 53.6% of the total.

CoinGecko experts attribute these figures to the popularity of initial coin offerings and meme tokens.

The most unsuccessful year for startups was 2021, with 5,724 or over 70% of projects shutting down. This was followed by 2022, which saw 3,520 failures (~60%).

Of those launched in 2023, as of January 2024, 289 projects have failed (less than 10%).

In compiling the report, CoinGecko experts considered not only outright scams but also closed illiquid projects and cryptocurrencies that have shown no trading activity in the past 30 days.

In November 2023, CoinGecko analysts reported the closure of 75% of GameFi projects since the segment’s inception.

According to the Big Blockchain Games List, nearly a third of blockchain games ceased to exist last year.