Crypto Project Shutdowns Hit 70+ in H1 2026 as Bitcoin Falls

Capital increasingly flowed into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and larger cryptocurrencies, leaving smaller projects struggling for liquidity and users. NFTs and DeFi registered continued declines in activity, as did blockchain gaming. That accelerated the pace of failures across the sector.

RootData's list includes projects from DeFi lending protocols, NFT marketplaces, Web3 gaming platforms, and Layer-2 scaling solutions. DeFi protocols accounted for the largest number of shutdowns, followed by NFT platforms and Web3 gaming projects. Some of the failed projects had raised from prominent venture firms beyond a16z, though RootData did not break down total venture losses.

The shutdowns also reduce the number of active tokens and trading pairs in the market. Liquidity pools tied to these projects often disappear when the underlying protocol goes offline. Exchanges typically delist tokens from defunct projects, though RootData did not track exchange actions. The failures can also leave token holders and depositors unable to access their assets; the data did not address user losses.

Three of the failed projects, Yupp and Syndicate Labs along with Entropy, had raised about $87 million from a16z. Their shutdowns highlight the scale of the downturn in venture-backed crypto startups. RootData's data showed the closures mark one of the industry's largest waves of shutdowns by number of projects.