2022 was a year of phenomenal cryptocurrency booms, as several projects collapsed and many more are on life support after the entire ecosystem was destroyed. The fallout from these digital currency projects has not only removed billions of dollars in value from the crypto economy, but has also eroded trust. Below is a look at six high-profile cryptocurrency project implosions that occurred during the crypto winter of 2022.
A Look at 5 Crypto Assets That Fell From Glory Amid Crypto Market Crisis
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 as of May 5, 2013 have basically been forgotten despite the fact that some still have value. Coins like freicoin (FRC), terracoin (TRC), devcoin (DVC) and mincoin (MNC) are all distant memories now. During the crypto winter of 2022, several high-profile crypto projects imploded. Below is a summary of these design flaws or cryptocurrency assets that have seen their value reduced and communities decimated.
Celsius (CEL)
As of January 1, 2022, crypto asset celsius (CEL) was trading at $4.26 per coin and was the 93rd largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization at the time. CEL was essentially an exchange token, and now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius advertised the ERC20 token as “the backbone of the Celsius network.” However, on June 13, 2022, the cryptocurrency lender stopped all operations and suspended withdrawals, and 30 days later, Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection.
Since June 13th, CEL has been extremely volatile, and the ERC20 token is currently trading at $0.48 per unit, which is 88.73% lower than its value on the first day of 2022. concentrated, with over 38% of all stock locked in bankrupt company portfolios, and 100 CEL portfolios hold 98.90% of all stock. Novawulf Digital Management was revealed as a 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 cap, with a market cap 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 trade for less than one US cent at $0.00016135 per unit. UST is no longer pegged to the dollar and trades at $0.028 per coin.
After the aftermath, Terra rebranded and launched a new currency 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. While most of the Terra development community has migrated to LUNA 2.0, LUNC still has a small group of dedicated supporters.
HUSD
HUSD is a stablecoin that broke away from the US Dollar on October 27, 2022. It has been pegged to the US Dollar since September 19, 2019, but now trades at $0.135 per unit. Although HUSD is no longer a stablecoin, its market valuation is still $25.64 million. However, in the last 24 hours, HUSD has seen just $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 maintain a balance of HUSD coins. Typically less than five HUSD transactions are made daily. While HUSD’s current market cap is just over $25 million, it peaked at over $1 billion on May 23, 2021.
Traveler (VGX)
Voyager Token (VGX) is another cryptocurrency that has lost considerable value since Voyager Digital ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy protection. In January 2022, a single Voyager Token was trading for $2.56, but today it has dropped to $0.45. Like Celsius (CEL), VGX has managed to retain some value as some investors hope the company’s restructuring plan could bolster the exchange’s token.
Like CEL, VGX is highly concentrated, with 6,267 unique addresses holding VGX, but 100 holders own 98.6% of coins in circulation. Typically, less than 150 VGX transactions are made daily.
FTX Token (FTT)
Another exchange token, ftx token (FTT), linked to a bankrupt entity, has also dropped significantly in value since FTX collapsed during the first week of November 2022. On January 1, 2022, FTT was valued at $38.70 per coin and ranked the 34th largest cryptocurrency. Today, FTT is valued at $1.49 per coin, and now that all supply has been released from the implementer of the FTX token contract, the cryptocurrency rating is not applicable.
As with CEL and VGX, there is some hope that FTT can bounce back 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 significantly increased in value. FTT is not available on exchanges as it used to be, as some exchanges have blocked deposits after millions in FTT were illicitly released from the FTT implementer’s main address. FTT is also highly concentrated, with the top 100 holders owning 99.20% of the entire FTT supply.
What are your thoughts on 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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