According to RootData, over 100 crypto projects have shut down, filed for bankruptcy, or permanently disappeared in 2026, and this trend is accelerating. This industry shakeout spans various sectors, including exchanges, wallets, DeFi lending protocols, NFT marketplaces, and Layer-1 blockchains, even encompassing the shutdown of Polkadot parachain Moonbeam. Industry leaders believe this reflects the overall maturation of the crypto industry, with capital becoming more discerning, and only projects with real cash flow and user bases able to survive. Unlike the 2022 collapse triggered by fraud and cascading leverage, this round of liquidations lacks a single point of contagion, instead stemming from a significant drop in token values that led to many projects running out of funds.