CoinGecko: more than 50% of cryptocurrencies are considered dead

Cryptocurrency rating platform CoinGecko reports in its latest analytical report that more than 24,000 cryptocurrencies have been registered on the platform since 2014. The total number of assets that have ever existed may be higher. However, not all of them have «survived» or thrived in the volatile and competitive crypto market. According to a report by crypto experts, more than 50% of the virtual coins that have emerged over the past decade can be considered dead.

The report defines «dead» or «failed» coins as cryptocurrencies that were once registered on CoinGecko but are now deactivated due to various circumstances, for example, they have not shown any trading activity in the last 30 days. This category also includes projects that have been recognized as fraudulent or dummy projects. Analysts noted that projects can ask for deactivation, for example, when the team breaks up, rebrands, or closes the project. Another option is when old tokens become illiquid or dead, they are also classified as «dead coins».

According to CoinGecko, 50%, or roughly 14,039, of the more than 24,000 cryptocurrencies registered on the platform since 2014 have died. Most of the dead cryptocurrencies were launched during the 2020−2021 bullish trend.

For comparison, 1,450 projects that were launched during the 2017−2018 crypto boom were subsequently closed. During this period, three thousand cryptocurrencies were registered on CoinGecko, which led to a similar failure rate of 70%.

Crypto experts speculate that the large number of dead coins in 2020−2021 may be due to the ease with which tokens can be deployed, as well as the surge in the popularity of meme coins. However, many joke coin projects start without a product, and the vast majority of them fail after a short period of time.