1,000 cryptocurrencies have died by 2022, according to data from Stadista and CoinDesk. It is a very high figure, but by no means a record. In 2021, 3,322 cryptos disappeared, and in 2020, 1,320 cryptocurrencies and tokens.
The analyst firm Stadista has calculated that at the beginning of 2022 there were 10,397 cryptocurrencies, and currently only 9,310 cryptocurrencies remain. It is a data very similar to that offered by Coindesk, which estimates that in 2022 951 cryptos have died.
These cryptocurrencies continue to exist on the blockchain, and their transactions can be verified. But no one has used them for months and they are worthless.
Most of them have died because they had no liquidity or transactions, which makes them lose value until they drop to zero. Others were simple scam attempts, some successful. Here you can see the statistics of dead cryptocurrencies in 2022, and in the last years:
It seems normal that the figures are very high in 2020 and 2021. Those were the "boom" years of cryptos, and since they are easy to create, many people launched into developing their own cryptocurrency to fulfill their dream of becoming an instant billionaire.
It is logical that the dead cryptocurrencies in 2022 will be less, because almost 5,000 cryptocurrencies have already been lost in the previous two years, so there were much fewer left on the market.
And the number is going to increase, if things continue the same. In 2022, the cryptocurrency market has lost a whopping 72% capitalization in 2022, according to Tom's Hardware, going from a valuation of $2 trillion in 2021 to just $850 billion in 2022.
The crypto market has yet to recover from the FTX crash, and it's going to cost you. The invasion of Ukraine, which has led to high inflation, less globalization, and an unstable and fearful market, is not helping.
Despite everything, those 1,000 dead cryptos in 2022 is not necessarily a bad figure. Most were frauds or low-quality cryptos that do not contribute anything. A healthier and stronger market will emerge from here, if it manages to get out of the crisis...
