Crypto Graveyard: Dead Coins, Abandoned Tokens, and Failed ICOs

It’s 2024, and crypto trading is hotter than ever! But, with staggering news regarding the number of dead coins on the rise each day, how do you know who to trust? The term ‘Dead Coins’ stands for cryptocurrencies that seized to exist.

The fact is that no matter what you read, the number of people getting rich by trading cryptocurrencies is smaller than the number of those getting broke. In fact, in one year, abandoned coins witnessed a spike of 35%! The current official number of coins that died is 1,949, while in December 2020, they were 1,440. Such news is not to be taken lightly.

However, before you give up and abandon all your coins and tokens from your wallet, you need to understand the story behind it all. Truth is, most of the coins you invest in will probably end up dead. Most of them provide no real value to the holder, and will only last until the grand scheme is fulfilled. Let’s check some of the dead coins and failed ICOs.

List of Dead Coins and Failed ICOs

  • BitConnect – Scam (Known as the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of cryptocurrencies)
  • Bitcoin Diamond – Scam
  • SpaceBIT – Scam
  • Agrolife Coin – No Volume
  • Zero Edge – Scam
  • Intellos – Abandoned
  • Umbrella Coin – Scam
  • TeamCoin – ICO Fail
  • SmartBillions – Scam
  • Crypto Secure – Scam
  • Revcoin – Scam
  • Respectonomy – ICO Fail
  • Pumpkin Pay – ICO Fail
  • Protean Coin – Abandoned
  • People Coin – Abandoned
  • Nautilus Coin – Abandoned
  • netBit – No Volume
  • LOOiX – No Volume
  • Kubera Coin – Abandoned
  • HOdlcoin – Joke

Low Market Volume and Liquidity

Once a coin reaches the market, developers jump with great promises and offer massive returns. Of course, to make the coin gain value, you need to make the community invest in it. Still, many of these coins face extremely low trade volumes in a short period of time.

If you see a coin or a token market with low volume, stay away from it. Low volume or liquidity means there is a lack of funding interest. When volume is low, it takes only one person with a solid short investment to completely wipe you out. The token or coin is regarded as dead if it’s facing a trading volume that’s less than $1,000 in three months. Certain individuals will make a coin and promote it with the sole intention of luring you into a trap. Try and stay away from such scams.

Voided Projects

Another reason responsible for the death of certain coins is a voided project. Typically, not all dead coins were scams. Some of them were genuine projects that failed to pass the test of time. They started well, launched a website, advertised on social media, had solid market liquidity, a good team, and a community, and yet, they died.

Some even lasted for several months and looked promising but still failed. So, how did it come to this? To understand it, you will need to know the nature of the cryptocurrency markets. Once a huge red move takes place on the investors’ charts, most of the time they start panicking and abandon their coins and tokens. Once there are more sellers than buyers, the coin prices continue to drop, and that’s how developers end up with a failed project and a dead coin. They have no other solution but to liquidate their position, terminate the project, and cash out.

Another good reason for a failed project is developers not living up to their promises. Once investors realize the coin and developers are not bringing the promised returns, they start cashing out which results in yet another dead coin, and another failed project.

After the project is considered null and void, the dead coin is delisted from all exchanges.

What is ICO – The Initial Coin Offering?

ICO is the place through which any individual can launch his own coin. Yes, absolutely any individual! The ICO has little to no government involvement, and anyone able to acquire the right tech can launch a coin and ask for funding.

Remember the cowboy movies in the Wild West? Well, it’s just the same chaos when it comes to cryptocurrencies. A ton of money at stake, with no law to regulate them. You can either get burned or make a load of money. Believe us, the first one is more likely to occur!

Before you learn all about failed and dead cryptos, you need to know how it all began. It was 2017 when the ICO movement encouraged the rise of cryptocurrencies. The number of options offered spiked from 29 to 850 in a quick period. Later, in 2018, a massive development of over 1,200 cryptos took place. Thanks to ICO, today, we have over 9,100 cryptos available to buy.

With becoming an instant sensation, the Initial Coin Offering managed to raise $4.9 billion in its first year of existence. Word is that 80% of all coins listed that year were an eighter scam or died.

Token vs. Coin

Let’s distinguish a token from a coin. Coins are primarily used as money. They rely on their blockchain and exist to be a store of value. They have no functionally, but only exist to be traded. Once you acquire coins, you can use them to buy things.

The token, on the other hand, has a much wider use when compared to the coin. They are built on the Ethereum blockchain and offer more functionality. Tokens can represent anything from the physical and digital world. They allow a safer and more fair trading environment when compared to the coins.

What Are The Reasons Behind a Dead Coin

Coins can wind up dead due to multiple reasons, and it’s important to spot them before you make a funding decision. These are some of the most popular dead coins, alongside the reason they died:

Types of Dead Coins

Both terms – types of dead coins and reasons for dead coins are closely related, but not the same. You just learned the reasons, and it’s time to learn the types of dead coins.

Joke Coins

The development of joke coins usually involves no plan at all, and they are created for the laugh of it. What’s interesting though, is that certain joke coins were able to raise a massive amount of money and withstand the test of time. The list of successful joke coins will make you wonder – did they really include no plan at all?

Many joke coins died and were delisted from exchanges, but some of them still hold a solid value today, and you can see posts about them all over social media. One good example of a successful joke coin is the Dogecoin. Investors love it and keep buying it. The current Coin Market Cap value for Dogecoin is a whopping $46.5 billion.

However, for each successful joke coin, nine fail and are delisted from exchanges. The list of dead joke coins is a long one, and you should do your research before investing. Joke coins take up 3% of all dead coins.

Abandoned Coins

The most usual type of dead coins – abandoned coins. They are the result of failed funding, bad social media advertising, worrying news, developer death, and months of limited price movement. Another reason for abandoned coins is failing to meet certain requirements that make coins tradable in the exchange. When developers fail to meet these terms, their coins are delisted.

This type of dead coins is the largest and most common one. Many of these coins feature great projects but still fail. That’s the main reason why it’s extremely hard to predict an abandoned coin.

Scam Coins

Other than the joke and abandoned coins, you have the nastiest of them all – scam coins. These are the coins whose main purpose is luring you to buy, and then killing the coin price. A common scenario is pump & dump. This occurs when the team behind the coin holds a massive value of the coin, and once enough people have bought and driven the price up to their advantage, they will liquidate their position and sell everything. Given their massive share of the coin, this will tear the price apart and anyone who invested will witness a massive loss.

To avoid this, stay away from coins where developers hold the biggest value. Don’t believe what we’re saying? Watch the ‘Big Short’ or ‘The China Hustle’ and everything will become crystal clear!

Bitcoin Related Dead Coins

With its popularity, Bitcoin attracted many people wanting to take advantage of it. Among other scams, you will notice a ton of coins carrying the Bitcoin name. While some are real, the majority are not. Their projects are shady and most of the time you can’t find any detail regarding the developers. When you want to buy a Bitcoin, you need to do it only via the official Bitcoin website or from a reputable crypto wallet.

One of the most popular Bitcoin scams are the BitConnect and the Bitcoin Diamond. BitConnect managed to reach the top 10 list in the Coin Market Cap. In 2017, BitConnect became a dead coin following a capitalization of $2 billion!

How to Avoid Scams & Dead Coins?

With so many coins at your disposal, how can you spot the difference between soon-to-be-dead coins, scams, and active ones worth investing in?

The process is time-consuming and boring, but if you want to make a solid investment, you should make sure to follow all the steps.

The most obvious course of action to avoid scams is to familiarize yourself with the team behind the cryptocurrency. If you can’t find any information about the developers, their LinkedIn profiles seem shady, and they don’t engage with their followers – it’s best to avoid them.

Beware of shady websites! You might think you’re on the right site, purchasing the right coin or token, but in reality, it might be a copy of the original one! Don’t Google the site you’re looking for, but instead, directly type the URL in your browser. Links displayed on the Google search might lead you to a false website or wallet.

Don’t follow the wrong people on social media! We all know how easy it is to start following a false profile. Don’t listen to advice regarding cryptocurrencies from these profiles. They will probably offer you impossible results and send you links to shady websites. Take a step back, as nobody became a millionaire overnight! Dead coins are always delisted from known exchanges, so make sure to double-check that as well!

Is Trading Cryptocurrencies Still Viable Today?

Given the rising number of dead coins, can you still trade cryptocurrencies profitably? Yes, indeed you can. Learning to avoid dead coins is only the beginning. Notably, you can’t invest $1 and expect a return of $50,000 like some people witnessed buying Bitcoin, but you can still take your fair share.

Start analyzing projects and see if certain developers have a rock-solid idea about the future. Elaborate and transparent plans tend to be a good sign when investing in coins. Follow news on social media and up your crypto trading skills.

Make peace with the fact that the list of dead coins is far longer than existing coins.

Most Popular Active Coins and Tokens

  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Binance Coin
  • XRP
  • Dogecoin
  • Tether
  • Cardano
  • Litecoin
  • Bitcoin Cash
  • Stellar

FAQ

In this section, you will find answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

What is The Number of Dead Coins Today?

The current number of dead coins will exceed 2,000 soon.

Can I Lose All My Money Trading Cryptocurrencies?

Yes. You can always lose your money while trading. You can also fall victim to crypto schemes.

How Can I Know Which One is a Dead Coin?

A dead coin will be delisted from popular exchanges. Moreover, the coin will experience a significant loss of volume.