Analysis: The era of easy earnings in the crypto industry is coming to an end, and over 100 projects have gone out of business in 2026

In comparison, Global Settlement Network (GSN) CEO Ryan Kirkley said that the crypto industry is experiencing a round of large-scale liquidation, and projects with inflated valuations, weak business models, and lack of sustainable revenue are leaving the market one after another.

More than 100 crypto projects have shut down, filed for bankruptcy, or virtually disappeared since 2026. Kirkley believes that this wave of failure is largely a result of the financing frenzy from 2020 to 2021. Many projects received huge financing at excessive valuations at the time, but lacked real revenue and profit paths, and were eventually forced to rely on continuous financing to maintain operations.

According to Galaxy Research data, venture capital in the crypto and blockchain sector in the first quarter of 2026 was about US$4 billion, involving 355 transactions. The capital scale fell by about half compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, while the number of transactions fell by only 16%, indicating that the contraction in capital was mainly due to a decrease in large-scale financing.

Kirkley believes that stablecoins, digital banks, and institutional wallets and settlement infrastructure may become winners after the industry clears up, while social tokens, memes, and some Web3 game projects will face more severe tests.

For Bitcoin, Kirkley said the market is currently in a mild bear market, with $6.12 million as a key support level. If it falls below this position, leveraged funds may be forced to sell off, further opening up room for a decline to $41,000.

Meanwhile, Kirkley said that he has met with government representatives from 7 countries in the past month, and the interest of institutions and governments in blockchain technology is increasing, but their focus is more on applications such as reducing financial costs, tokenized assets, and cross-border settlement, rather than the decentralized financial system emphasized by the traditional crypto industry.

This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)