2026-01-03 09:28:08

2025 marks an unavoidable reckoning for the entire crypto industry. The once-celebrated fundraising stories, the star projects backed by top-tier VCs, are collapsing one after another.

RootData's statistics are in front of us—although the number of projects failing this year hasn't reached the peaks of the FTX explosion in 2022 or the Luna crash in 2023, the nature of this wave of closures is completely different. This time, it's not a domino effect triggered by a black swan event, but a total collapse of business logic under extreme market pressure.

The GameFi sector is hit first. Projects like COMBO, Nyan Heroes, and Ember Sword, which were once highly anticipated, have all announced shutdowns. NFTs are even worse—platforms like Royal, RECUR, and X2Y2 are退出ing one after another, leaving the entire sector in chaos. The most heartbreaking part is that behind these fallen projects, there are no shortage of big players. Top institutions like a16z, Polychain, and Coinbase Ventures poured tens of millions of dollars into them, but in the end, they couldn't stop the march toward death.

Vega Protocol raised over a billion dollars but shut down its mainnet due to stagnating user growth. RECUR was once valued at over $300 million, and DeFi protocol DELV has also reached its end. These cases tell a harsh truth: in an era dominated by conservatism, the scale of funding and the halo of top-tier institutions are no longer protective charms.

The underlying logic is brutal—shifting from speculative frenzy to value return, this transition has come suddenly and unexpectedly. The entire industry is being forced into a painful but necessary paradigm shift.

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PuzzledScholar

· 01-05 21:12

Damn, even a16z pouring tens of millions can't save it. This is true despair.

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PriceOracleFairy

· 01-05 20:14

ngl watching a16z and polychain take these massive L's is kinda hilarious... thought big money could arbitrage away natural selection or something lol

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MevHunter

· 01-05 10:16

Really? No matter how much money is injected, it can't save a bad project. The inevitable liquidation has finally arrived.

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HalfIsEmpty

· 01-03 09:58

Even endorsements from big players can't save it, indicating that this round is truly a liquidation, not just a simple leek-cutting. Raising tens of millions but still going bankrupt—what kind of disastrous logic is that? Thinking about those projects from a16z, it seems investors are starting to get smarter and no longer blindly throw money in. When user growth hits a ceiling, they just shut down the platform—why bother? The market has really changed. Amulets are useless now. Our industry has finally moved from relying on stories to relying on real skills.

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RugpullTherapist

· 01-03 09:56

Really, no matter how much funding is raised, it can't save projects with no demand. Watching those a16z dollars go down the drain is quite satisfying. The big wave淘沙 moment has arrived. All the hype from before is now all爆雷. Thought VC endorsements could save lives? Turns out they were just Photoshop. User growth has bottomed out, and the mainnet is closing? This is the reality, everyone. This round of liquidation is actually a good thing. In the future, scam projects will have to be smarter. Everyone thinks their project is the next 100x coin, but most are doomed to zero. The NFT track is in chaos, and it's time to reflect. Remember how fiercely those whitepapers were hyped. It's no longer a black swan; the entire logic is rotten through. Raising over a billion dollars and still failing, I just want to laugh. This is the proper way—squeeze out the bubble, and what's left are the truly valuable ones. The business logic has completely collapsed. To put it nicely, it's a liquidation; to be harsh, it's the end of the韭菜割韭菜 cycle.

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ValidatorViking

· 01-03 09:42

consensus doesn't care about your series a, ngl. watched too many protocols with household-name backers just... flatline. vega shutting down the mainnet because user growth hit a wall? that's the kind of thing that used to get buried under marketing spin. not anymore.

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WhaleWatcher

· 01-03 09:40

Haha, now I see clearly. Endorsements from big companies can't save a rotten project. --- Money poured in by a16z was also wasted; the business model itself is a castle in the air. --- GameFi and NFT are both going to the graveyard. I’ve been saying 2025 will be the year of clearing the books. --- Funding scale is no longer a talisman; those words hit too close to home. --- Vega Protocol, with over a hundred million dollars, still failed. What does that mean? There are simply no users. --- This round of closures is different. It’s not a black swan, it’s just bad. --- RECUR went from a $300 million valuation to shutting down. Is that outrageous or not? --- All projects are doing the same thing: scamming money, and they all end up dead. --- From celebration to awakening, the crypto circle needs to wake up. --- The halo of top institutions has shattered into pieces. This is the real reshuffle.

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RebaseVictim

· 01-03 09:36

Haha, a16z throwing hundreds of millions still can't save it. This is true ruthlessness. The funding scale has long depreciated; now it's all about whether they can survive. That GameFi wave really messed things up; it's all because of overhyping back then. This liquidation is even more brutal than a black swan; there's nowhere to hide. From celebration to collapse, it happened so fast. I'm a bit numb. That NFT mess was bound to happen. The business logic itself has collapsed; fundraising is useless. It’s heartbreaking.

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