18.08.2026 17:51
In 2026, more than 100 crypto projects shut down, went bankrupt, or quietly disappeared. Global Settlement Network CEO Ryan Kirkley views the wave of closures not as a surprise but as the delayed result of the industry's funding model during its boom years.
According to RootData data, more than 100 projects have ceased operations this year. Falling altcoin prices, depleted token treasuries, and declining venture capital have exposed companies without a sustainable revenue model. According to Kirkley, the foundation for many of these failures was laid during the capital-raising frenzy of 2020-2021.
According to Galaxy Research data, venture capital investors directed approximately $4 billion into 355 crypto and blockchain deals in the first quarter of 2026. This amount is roughly half of the capital invested in the last quarter of 2025. In contrast, the number of deals fell by only 16 percent. The data shows that the decline in capital was largely driven by a reduction in large funding rounds. Kirkley said, "If you raise capital at a very high valuation, you guarantee yourself a bad outcome." According to the CEO, many projects raised massive rounds despite having almost no revenue and no realistic path to profitability, and then had to transform into billion-dollar companies to justify the next funding round.
According to Kirkley, crypto's capital-raising culture amplified the problem. Unlike in other sectors, announcing a large round could boost a project's token price and attract retail investors. This created an incentive to make funding appear more promising than it was. The headline figure could obscure how much of the funding commitments actually converted into cash. Kirkley explained that Global Settlement Network encountered investors who did not fulfill their signed investment commitments, and that the announced round size could differ from the cash actually received.
Another experiment being tested was decentralized governance. Kirkley noted that token ownership did not translate into active participation, and that governance votes could make it difficult for struggling protocols to pivot quickly. The CEO said, "Token holders do not mean they are active participants in your ecosystem."
WINNERS ARE STABLECOINS AND INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
According to Kirkley, the market is increasingly clearly defining what crypto actually needs. The CEO listed stablecoins, digital banks, and institutional-grade wallet and settlement infrastructure as the standout winners. In contrast, social tokens, memecoins, and parts of the Web3 gaming world face a harsher reckoning.
Global Settlement Network operates as a blockchain company building settlement infrastructure for banks, governments, and regulated financial institutions. The company's technology is designed to support the issuance of digital currencies, including stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, the settlement of tokenized assets, and cross-border payments.
KIRKLEY POINTS TO $41,000 RISK FOR BITCOIN
Kirkley stated that the wave of liquidations could intensify if Bitcoin breaks its next major support zone. Describing the market as a "period of soft decline," the CEO highlighted support at $61,200 as critical. Losing this level could trigger forced selling among leveraged investors and bring a decline toward $41,000 into play. At the time of reporting, Bitcoin was trading around $64,100.
Despite the market weakness, Kirkley believes the adoption the industry has awaited for years is beginning. The CEO noted that he had met with representatives from seven countries interested in blockchain technology in the past month. However, this adoption increasingly resembles crypto's original vision less and less. According to Kirkley, governments and institutions see blockchain's potential to reduce costs and modernize finance, but they do not necessarily want to do so through decentralized infrastructures.