122 cryptocurrency projects had ceased operations, gone bankrupt or suffered prolonged website outages in 2026 as of Aug. 6, according to RootData data cited by CoinDesk, extending a shakeout across exchanges, wallets, DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces and blockchains. MoonPay President Keith Grossman said the downturn resembles the dot-com collapse, arguing that the key test is no longer whether teams can launch tokens, chains or fundraising rounds, but whether they are creating products people actually need. Several recent failures have reinforced that pressure on business models. Tally, a governance platform used by more than 500 protocols, shut down despite processing more than $1 billion in payments, while Everclear also closed after reaching $500 million in monthly transaction volume. BitMEX, BitMart, Movement Labs and other projects have also announced closures or related filings, underscoring how usage and attention have not always translated into durable revenue as capital becomes harder to access. Grossman also tied the industry’s next phase to tokenization, saying blockchain infrastructure can lower the cost of proving ownership, authenticity and settlement, but cautioning that putting an asset onchain does not by itself create value.