2020 has been a challenging year across industries around the and cryptocurrency market has taken its own toll. So far this year, at least 75 cryptocurrency exchange platforms have shut down.
Why do cryptocurrency exchanges shut down?
As listed by the Crypto Wisser Exchange Graveyard, the cryptocurrency exchanges could have been scams which were forced to shut down likely or risk government and regulation law, some of them were hacked and had to close down as a result. A large portion of the exchanges chose to shut down voluntarily, possibly as a result of pandemic-related issues. However, the main cause of closure listed is “MIA” as disappearing without reason. Only two exchanges were flagged and shut down by government intervention.
Some of the other factors pointing to the shut down of exchanges include the growth of decentralised finance (DeFi) market and the subsequent increase in the interest in DeFi exchanges, which has led to the closure of smaller exchanges who can’t keep up. The growing pressure for regulation and law surrounding know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. As the pressure has increased, several operations have not been able to step up or not have the resources to meet the requirements, being forced to close.
Other cryptocurrencies in danger
Altcoins and digital currencies have also been suffering the wrath of closure. Looking at deadcoins.com, there are nearly 2000 cryptocurrency projects which have closed operations. This could be as a result of a number of issues. Commonly, the reasons are similar to that of cryptocurrency exchanges, whether because of a hack that they can’t bounce back from, a scam which has been shut down, regulatory intervention, or other unknown reasons.
While 2020 might have been unkind to entities in the market, the overall cryptocurrency industry is not in a negative place. At the beginning of the year, Bitcoin was trading at around $7,200 USD and, after recovering from a dip in March, has increased to hover healthily around $10,886,24 USD. Not only does has Bitcoin seen an increase in one of the most concerning times of the recent economy, but there is a strong positive sentiment surrounding the market, which investors, analysts, and experts predicting a rally on the way.