When the issue of cryptocurrencies is discussed, the main theme seems to be around the success of these alternative currencies. You will often hear about the most profitable cryptocurrencies, how internet value has been made possible by digital currencies among other things. The world of cryptos is definitely bright and illustrious, but there is also a whole world of cryptocurrencies that barely survived the volatile electronic currency market. Most of them failed due to either:
- Bad publicity
- Security issues
- Unethical behavior
- Unclear progression paths
Here is a look at the top 5 cryptocurrency failures of all time.
5. GetGems (Gems)
GetGems launched back in 2014 with a promise to invigorate the social media realm. The project went on to raise a sum of $111,000 from supporters for its growth. The crypto, however, failed to gather any momentum and as of now, they appear to have overestimated their prospects. Even though it is still in operation as a platform that rewards its users for viewing online ads, most of its initial objectives have been dropped.
4. SpaceBIT
This cryptocurrency is one of those that received the biggest publicity in 2014. The team behind the crypto had ambitious plans of making electronic currencies accessible to all the corners of the globe. They even went ahead and launched nano-satellites that were supposed to act as the supportive infrastructure for their great cryptocurrency.
Even though the team seemed to have all necessary bits for a successful crypto in place, nothing ever came out of it. The news about the cryptocurrency simply stopped streaming in after a while.
3. PayCoin
Paycoin had one of the most illustrious journies in the cryptocurrency world. This currency was launched by respectable miners, Josh Garza and GAW, who had a great deal of knowledge about the market. The cryptocurrency was however rushed in an attempt to market it to users and this compromised its security. Even though it had one of the largest market caps at its height, the crypto came tumbling down when most of the promises made by the founders failed to materialize.
2. Dogecoin
Dogecoin is one of the cryptocurrencies that started without much pomp nor vigor. In fact, it appears that the founder did not expect it to garner much steam. The cryptocurrency, nevertheless, became quite popular due to the kind of charitable approach it had taken. Within no time, the cryptocurrency had a large user base and its own exchange was established. The success was unfortunately short-lived when its founder took an unexpected turn and shut down the exchange. After the collapse of the exchange and disappearance of funds, the story of Dogecoin came to an end.
1. Ethereum’s DAO
The Decentralized Autonomous Organization crypto’s failure is probably the most historic because people had such great expectations about it. The DAO came into existence in 2016 and immediately reverberated across the market. A lot of people were hoping for such a project and its launch marked the culmination of dreams. In fact, the cryptocurrency received millions in investments, to the tune of $168 million. It did not take long for the project to fall, however. The loss of $50m after a successful invasion of the system by an attacker signaled the beginning of the end for the cryptocurrency.