2022 was a year of phenomenal cryptocurrency explosions, as several projects collapsed and many more are on life support after the entire ecosystem went to pieces. The fallout from these digital currency projects has not only wiped billions of dollars in value out of the crypto economy, but has also eroded trust. The following is a look at six high-profile cryptocurrency project implosions that took place during the crypto winter of 2022.
A Look At 5 Crypto Assets That Fell From Glory Amid The Crypto Market Downturn
History shows that there have been many failures in the cryptocurrency market economy over the years, and a great example is how eight of the top ten coins in May 5, 2013, they have basically been forgotten even though some still have value. Coins like freicoin (FRC), terracoin (TRC), devcoin (DVC), and mincoin (MNC) are now distant memories. During the crypto winter of 2022, several high-profile crypto projects imploded. Below is a summary of these failed or active cryptocurrency projects that have seen their value reduced and communities decimated.
centigrade (CEL)
On January 1, 2022, the crypto asset celsius (CEL) was traded for $4.26 per coin, and was the 93rd largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization at the time. CEL was essentially a token exchange, and Celsius, the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lender announced the ERC20 token as “the backbone of the Celsius Network”. However, on June 13, 2022, the cryptocurrency lender halted all operations and stopped withdrawals, and 30 days later, Celsius filed for bankruptcy.
Since June 13, CEL has been extremely volatile, and these days, the ERC20 token is trading at $0.48 per unit, which is 88.73% lower than its value on the first day of 2022. The property CEL’s is extremely concentrated, as more than 38% of all supply is locked in the bankrupt company’s wallets, and 100 CEL wallets hold 98.90% of total supply. Novawulf Digital Management has been revealed as the sponsor of the company’s reorganization plan.
Earth (MOON)
421 days ago, on January 1, 2022, terra (LUNA) was the ninth largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, with a market capitalization of $31.86 billion. On that day, LUNA was trading at $88.08 per unit, and the network’s stablecoin UST was still pegged to the US dollar. Today, LUNA is ranked 55th and LUNA tokens are trading for less than a US cent at $0.00016135 per unit. UST is no longer pegged to the dollar and is trading at $0.028 per coin.
After the fallout, Terra renamed and released a new coin LUNA, while the original LUNA became LUNA Classic (LUNC). The head of Terraform Labs, the company behind the Terra blockchain ecosystem, Do Kwon, has been accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding investors. Although the majority of the Terra development community moved on to LUNA 2.0, LUNC still has a small group of dedicated fans.
HUSD
HUSD is a stablecoin that was de-pegged from the US dollar on October 27, 2022. It had been pegged to the dollar since September 19, 2019, but is now trading at $0.135 per unit. Although HUSD is no longer a stablecoin, its market valuation remains at $25.64 million. However, in the last 24 hours, HUSD has only seen $11,830 in trading volume and the token is only listed on a few exchanges.
There are still 187,817,004 HUSD coins in circulation and 9,448 unique addresses have a balance of HUSD coins. Typically fewer than five HUSD transactions are made per day. While HUSD’s current market value is just over $25 million, it hit a peak of over $1 billion on May 23, 2021.
Traveler (VGX)
Voyager Token (VGX) is another cryptocurrency that has lost considerable value since Voyager Digital halted operations and filed for bankruptcy. In January 2022, a single Voyager token was trading at $2.56, but today it is down to $0.45. Like Celsius (CEL), VGX has been able to hold some value as some investors hope the company’s restructuring plan could bolster the token exchange.
Like CEL, VGX is highly concentrated, with 6,267 unique addresses holding VGX, but 100 holders own 98.6% of the coins in circulation. Typically less than 150 VGX transactions are made per day.
FTX Tab (FTT)
Another exchange token, ftx token (FTT), linked to a bankrupt entity, has also lost value significantly since FTX crashed during the first week of November 2022. On January 1, 2022, FTT was valued at $38.70 per coin and ranked as the 34th largest cryptocurrency. Today, FTT is worth $1.49 per coin, and now that all supply has been released from the FTX token contract implementer, the range of the crypto asset is not applicable.
Like CEL and VGX, there is some hope that FTT can recover if FTX manages to restructure part of its business. For example, after the new CEO of FTX, John J. Ray III, discussed the possibility of restarting parts of FTX, the FTT token increased significantly in value. FTT is not available on exchanges as before, as some exchanges blocked deposits after millions in FTT were illegally released from the main address of the FTT implementer. FTT is also highly concentrated, with the top 100 holders owning 99.20% of the entire FTT offer.
What do you think about the five high-profile crypto assets that fell out of favor last year? Share your ideas in the comments section below.
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