Over 60 Crypto Firms Shut in 2026 as Hacks, Regulation, and Economics Take Their Toll

Polynomial, a derivatives exchange, force-closed all positions on February 18 after its hybrid orderbook and automated market maker model failed to attract liquidity, with a full shutdown following March 3. Seamless Protocol disclosed that its leveraged token products on Base failed to gain traction and set a June 30 closure, with a proposal to distribute remaining funds to token holders.

Everclear, a cross-chain liquidity protocol that had processed up to $500 million in monthly volume, wound down on May 21 after concluding it could not build a sustainable revenue model. Angle Protocol’s community agreed to unwind its EURA and USDA stablecoins over roughly a year, with 1-to-1 redemptions available through March 1, 2027.

Ionic, Loopring’s DEX and other DeFi products, and Ventuals, a Hyperliquid-based perpetuals platform that let vHYPE holders withdraw staked funds plus yield, also closed during the period, alongside Dango, a perpetual DEX and L1 that stopped trading July 29 and is shutting its chain by August 13 after concluding there was no path to profitability.

Security exploits drove several wallet shutdowns. Secondfi, a Cardano wallet, announced July 22 it would wind down after attackers stole 16.1 million ADA, worth about $2.4 million, in June. Ctrl Wallet, formerly XDEFI, set an August 3 closure after a June 23 exploit targeting Cardano-based wallets in its system.

Xenea gave users 72 hours to export private keys before discontinuing its multi-chain wallet on July 9. Leap Wallet confirmed on April 2 that it would shut down May 28, telling Cosmos users to export seed phrases and migrate elsewhere. Magic Eden removed its wallet app from stores on April 1 and fully decommissioned it by May 1 to refocus on its core NFT marketplace.

Foundation, an NFT marketplace, closed on April 15 after a planned sale to Blackdove fell through. Intergaze, a Cosmos NFT chain, gave users 14 days to withdraw before migrating remaining assets to Stargaze. Pudgy Party, Pudgy Penguins’ mobile game, closes July 14 as the company redirects resources to its newer title, Pudgy World.

Fishing Frenzy, which had roughly 10 million installs and $1 million in revenue, closes June 25 after its developer said the game never found a sustainable product-market fit. Gensokishi Online, a Polygon-based MMORPG, shut down on April 30 after running at a monthly loss of roughly 8 million yen. Pixel Heroes Adventure’s studio dissolved entirely on April 15, laying off all staff.

Fantasy.top, an onchain trading card game, shutdown services, and Dmail, a decentralized email service citing high infrastructure costs and weak monetization, also closed during the window. Zapper, a seven-year-old DeFi portfolio tracker, closes on August 3 after concluding its economics no longer justify continuing.

Tally, a DAO governance platform, announced on March 17 that it would wind down after six years. Chief executive Dennison Bertram said looser SEC enforcement under the current administration made onchain governance optional for many projects, collapsing demand for the tool. Syndicate, backed by A16z, wound down May 21 after five years amid shrinking interest in new rollup networks.

Parsec, an onchain analytics platform backed in part by Galaxy Digital, shut down February 19, citing a difficult competitive market, and pledged to refund subscriptions. Slingshot, a DEX aggregator, began sunsetting in late January and fully closed by February 28 over low usage. Entropy, a self-custody startup that had raised $25 million in 2022, closed in January after repeated pivots failed to secure further funding.

Legend, a DeFi wallet and aggregator, set a July 12 closure date after its co-founder said the product built an audience but never reached sustainable scale. Yupp, an AI model feedback platform, closed March 31 after less than a year, saying rapid AI model improvements made its crowdsourced service obsolete.

Soundness, a quantum-resistant blockchain project, ceased operations on June 18, saying the industry simply was not prioritizing quantum-resistant security. Satori, a perpetual DEX, wound down by July 16, citing prolonged weak market conditions. A handful of projects were also reported to be closing or inactive without a public announcement detailing terms or reasons.

The list points to three recurring pressures. Security exploits forced at least half a dozen closures, from Step Finance’s $40 million hack to the Cardano-linked breaches that hit Secondfi and Ctrl Wallet. Regulatory friction played a direct role for AscendEX, which could not secure MiCA licensing, and an indirect one for Tally, whose founder tied the shutdown to looser SEC enforcement reducing demand for governance tools. The largest group, though, cited plain economics: teams that built working products, raised meaningful capital in several cases, and still could not attract enough users or revenue to continue.