Altcoin Market Crash: The Rise and Fall of Millions of Projects

The cryptocurrency landscape has witnessed a dramatic decline in the number of altcoin projects since 2021, with over half of them disappearing entirely. This market downturn is a consequence of rapid changes, including increased volatility and political shifts that negatively impacted smaller projects. GeckoTerminal’s analysis reveals that more than 1.8 million altcoins shut down by Q1 2025 alone, representing nearly 49% of all closures since early 2021. This surge in failures was primarily concentrated in 2024 and 2025, marking a volatile period for digital assets.