Study: Nearly 45% of VC-Backed Crypto Projects Have Ceased Operations

A joint study by Chainplay and Strorible reveals that among the 1,181 crypto projects that received venture capital between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024, nearly 45% have ceased operations, and 77% have a monthly revenue 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% not generating effective revenue. Yzi Labs has a project failure rate of 72%. Top venture capital companies like Circle, Delphi Ventures, Consensys, and Andreessen Horowitz also have a large number of supported projects that have ceased operations, with many having a failure rate of over two-thirds. Among angel investors, Balaji Srinivasan has a "zombie project" rate of 57%, ranking first; 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 a significant correlation between fundraising scale and success rate. Projects with funding exceeding $50 million have a noticeably lower failure rate, while among projects with funding less than $5 million, 33% have failed, and 20% have ceased operations.