Crypto’s 2026 Exit Party Has 82 Empty Chairs

Crypto researcher Stacy Muur identified 82 digital asset projects and protocols that have reportedly shut down in 2026, according to a list published on X on Tuesday. The list includes Balancer, Radiant Capital, Neon EVM and Step Finance, among dozens of others, spanning decentralized finance, blockchain infrastructure and Web3 gaming. Muur described the number of closures as unlike anything she had previously witnessed. The shutdowns follow a prolonged bear market, with Bitcoin ($BTC) retreating from its October 2025 record high above $126,000 to below $60,000 earlier this year.

Ethereum layer-2 network Blast is among the most prominent casualties. Cointelegraph reported that Blast announced its shutdown earlier this month, citing no “credible path” to economic viability. The decision marked a sharp reversal for a network that once attracted more than $2 billion in deposits.

Other projects encountered different problems. Step Finance shut down in February following a major treasury breach, while Radiant Capital announced in June that it would wind down operations after failing to recover from a 2024 exploit. Coinbase-backed Satori Finance ceased operations after concluding that its revenue could no longer support the business.

Research published by DeFiLlama in August identified 100 crypto projects that had announced shutdowns in 2026, including 40 in the preceding 90 days. The most commonly cited reason was a lack of product-market fit, followed by depleted funding, insufficient revenue and decisions to pivot to other products. Collectively, the projects raised approximately $1 billion and generated $250 million in cumulative fees. Nine raised more than $50 million each, suggesting that substantial financial backing offered little assurance of long-term survival.

Crypto investment is becoming increasingly concentrated, according to DeFiLlama. Venture funding rose in the first half of 2026 compared with the previous year even as the number of deals fell 80%, while mergers and acquisitions totaled 87 transactions at the time of the report, already 65% higher than the previous year. Separately, a report said $4.2B crypto bank Anchorage Digital cut 17% of its workforce.