Historic Shakeout in the Crypto World: Over 100 Projects, Including Major Exchanges, Shut Down

With the closure of more than 100 crypto projects in 2026, the industry is undergoing a historic process of creative destruction, signaling a transition from speculative growth to real revenue models.

According to RootData, the cryptocurrency world has entered a jarring period of cleanup, with over 100 projects filing for bankruptcy or ceasing operations in 2026. In the final week of July, successive shutdown announcements from industry giants like BitMEX, BitMart, Movement Labs, and Storj Labs highlighted the magnitude of the sector’s upheaval.

This wave covers not only small startups but also exchanges, wallets, and DeFi protocols. In particular, the permanent closure of Moonbeam—a Polkadot (DOT) parachain—on July 31st left users who were unable to migrate their assets stranded, proving how harsh the process has become. Industry leaders liken this situation to a cycle in nature, characterizing it as a phase where weak links are eliminated and only those offering real utility survive. Much like nature’s scavengers, the market is weeding out dysfunctional structures to make the ecosystem more resilient.

The Era of Creative Destruction in the Crypto Sector

Ben Fisch, CEO of Espresso Systems, states that Layer-2 networks in the market have reached oversaturation and many do not make sense as products. Marek Olszewski, co-founder of Celo (CELO), emphasizes that this consolidation is happening across the entire sector and is a sign that the cryptocurrency world is maturing. According to Coin Bureau founder Nick Puckrin, for every closure made public, there are ten other projects quietly disappearing.

Orkun Mahir Kılıç, CEO of Chainway Labs, likens this process to the bursting of the dot-com bubble, stating that short-term pain will build a healthy foundation in the long run. As investors become more selective, projects that generate dollar-based revenue—rather than relying solely on their own tokens—are the ones surviving. This drastic cleanup is purging the ecosystem of speculation and transforming it into a structure that produces real value.