Crypto Shutdowns Top 100 in 2026 as Layer-2s Consolidate

Industry leaders say the trend is not unique to ethereum scaling networks. "Consolidation is happening across all of crypto right now, not just layer two, from DeFi protocols to DEXs and infrastructure providers. It's a sign that the industry is maturing. The networks continuing through this period are the ones people actually use and depend on," Marek Olszewski, co-founder of the Celo layer-2, said in an interview with CoinDesk.

"For every crypto project that you hear about shutting down, there are perhaps another 10 silently doing the same," Nick Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau, wrote on X. "Creative destruction for the next cycle perhaps."

Research from the PYMNTS Intelligence report "Waiting for Certainty: Why Most CFOs Are Holding Back on Crypto and Stablecoins" found that most middle market companies are cautious about digital assets, with 13% using stablecoins and just 5% using other cryptocurrencies. The report added that blockchain technology could become useful infrastructure behind the scenes without consumers ever directly interacting with crypto assets.

"Accepting a crypto payment is not super simple," WalletConnect CEO Jess Houlgrave told PYMNTS earlier this year. "You've got to have the connectivity, the user experience, the wallet infrastructure, the settlement infrastructure, the conversion and liquidity infrastructure. There's a lot of pieces there."