Key Findings
- The United States is the primary source of dead and scam crypto projects. American founders are responsible for 33% of all dead and 43% of all scam projects.
- Russia has the highest crypto scam rate, with 24% of projects by its developers being fraudulent.
- South Korea has the highest crypto death rate, with 59% of projects by its developers being dead.
- Vietnam is the only developing nation on top 10 lists for founding the most dead and scam crypto projects and for having the highest rates of such projects.
Methodology
- First, we crawled CoinMarketCap for 1544 crypto projects.
- Following that, we conducted manual research and gathered information about the birth nationalities of the project founders. The information is sourced from multiple sources (for example, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, etc.).
- Then we determined whether they were dead using these five criteria:
- Liquidity < $50,000
- 24-hour trading volume < $1,000
- No activities on official X for at least three months.
- Down websites
- Delisted from CoinMarketCap.
If a project meets any of these criteria, it is considered dead.
- We also checked the Rekt Database to see if the project had been rug pulled.
- We apply the following formula to determine the top 10 nations that created the most scam crypto projects:
- We apply the following formula to determine the top 10 nations with the highest rates of scam crypto projects:
- The top 10 nations with the highest death rate and the top 10 nations that founded the most dead crypto projects are determined using similar formulas.
Data collected is from Jan 2022 to October 2024.
Top 10 Countries Behind the Most Scam Crypto Projects
The United States tops the list for creating the most scam crypto projects, with American founders responsible for 43% of all scams.
This may be due to the enormous number of inventive U.S. crypto projects, including iconic failures like Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. After FTX abused billions in user funding to cover hazardous bets by its sister firm, Alameda Research, his $32 billion platform collapsed in 2022. After these losses appeared, FTX declared bankruptcy, causing industry instability and severe investment losses. SBF’s prosecution and high-profile fallout raised questions about supervision, transparency, and ethics in U.S. crypto ventures, highlighting the hazards of rapid, unchecked growth.
Chinese founders rank next, accounting for 8% of global crypto scam projects, followed by the United Kingdom, whose developers are responsible for 7% of all scam projects.
Top 10 Countries Behind the Most Dead Crypto Projects
The United States also tops the list for dead crypto projects, with American-founded projects making up 33% of all failed projects. China and the United Kingdom follow, each accounting for around 7%. South Korea and Singapore also rank prominently, reflecting challenges in sustaining projects within these innovation hubs.
However, scams and failed projects are more common in countries with strong market growth. Therefore, evaluating the rate of crypto project creation in each country is crucial for a more objective view. When we analyzed the proportion of scam and dead projects relative to the rate of project creation in each country, we discovered:
Top 10 Nations with the Highest Rate of Scam Crypto Projects
We determine the scam project rate of a country by dividing the total number of scam projects launched by a nation’s developers by the total number of projects established by the nation’s founders.
Russia has the greatest crypto scam rate, with 24% of projects launched by Russian developers being scams. Swiss developers come in second with 22%, followed by China, which has 20% of projects deemed fraudulent. Vietnam completes the top ten, with 12% of its cryptocurrency projects flagged as scams, highlighting the risks in this quickly expanding market.
Top 10 Nations with the Highest Rate of Dead Crypto Projects
We determine the scam project rate of a country by dividing the total number of dead projects launched by a nation’s developers by the total number of projects established by the nation’s founders.
In South Korea, 59% of crypto projects end up dead, followed by Singapore at 54%. Over half of crypto projects in the United Kingdom also fail, while Canada and the Netherlands show similarly high death rates at 50%. Vietnam ranks sixth, with 42% of projects failing—a notable figure for a developing nation with a booming blockchain industry.
Vietnam: An Emerging Crypto Market with High Rates of Scam and Failed Projects
Vietnam has quickly become a hub for blockchain innovation, yet it faces significant challenges in ensuring project longevity and legitimacy.
Vietnamese developers are responsible for 1.3% of all scam projects and 2% of dead projects, placing the country in the global top ten for both categories. Additionally, 12% of Vietnam’s crypto projects are scams, ranking it among the top ten countries with the highest scam rates. With 42% of its crypto projects classified as dead, Vietnam ranks sixth globally for the highest crypto project failure rate.
Conclusion
The prevalence of scam and failed crypto initiatives across various countries highlights how regulatory gaps and market enthusiasm can significantly influence a project’s success or downfall. The high scam rate in the United States and the presence of dead and fraudulent projects in developing nations like Vietnam underscore the need for global standards and increased investor awareness. As crypto adoption expands, understanding these trends will be key to fostering a more stable and reliable ecosystem. It’s also worth noting that all listed countries possess thriving blockchain markets, and rapid growth often contributes to a higher share of failed or fraudulent projects.
