Research: Nearly 45% of VC-backed crypto projects have shut down

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, a joint study by Chainplay and Strorible shows that among the 1,181 crypto projects that received venture capital from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024, nearly 45% have ceased operations, and 77% have monthly revenues of less than $1,000. Among venture capital firms, Polychain Capital has the highest failure rate, with 44% of its invested projects terminated and 76% of projects generating no effective revenue; Yzi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) has a failure rate of 72% for supported projects; top venture capital firms like Circle, Delphi Ventures, Consensys, and Andreessen Horowitz also have a significant number of supported projects that have ceased operations, with many failing at rates exceeding two-thirds.

Among angel investors, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan has the highest proportion of "zombie projects" at 57%; Arthur Hayes has 34%, Santiago Santos has 15%, and projects supported by Sandeep Nailwal and Stani Kulechov each have a 10% cessation rate. The data shows that the scale of fundraising is significantly related to the success rate. Projects that raised over $50 million have a noticeably lower failure rate, while among projects that raised less than $5 million, 33% have failed, and 20% have ceased operations.