Keith Grossman Warns Crypto Must Prove Its Value as 100+ Projects Fold in 2026

Crypto is now experiencing a dot-com-style shakeout, with more than 100 projects reportedly shutting down, filing for bankruptcy, or disappearing in 2026, MoonPay President Keith Grossman warned on August 10.

According to him, the slump is forcing crypto companies to ask themselves a fundamental question: Are they developing products that people actually need?

Drawing Lessons From Past Busts

In a post on X that quoted a CoinDesk report, Grossman called himself “a geriatric” by crypto standards and noted he has seen a few cycles after joining WIRED in 2002, shortly after the dot-com crash, and taking his first leadership role there during the 2008 financial crisis.

“Companies fail, people lose jobs, careers change & confidence gets shaken,” Grossman wrote, stating that harsh environments may prompt individuals to rethink their reasons for building in the space in the first place.

Over 100 crypto initiatives have ceased operations or declared bankruptcy this year, with the shutdowns ranging from exchanges, wallets, DeFi projects, NFT marketplaces, and blockchain networks.

Grossman compared the situation with the dot-com collapse. He argued that the internet’s failure to support thousands of businesses did not mean the technology itself had failed. Instead, it showed that simply being an internet company was not enough to create a viable business, and he sees a similar test emerging for crypto.