Today I am exploring what happens to failed ICO’s and the world of Dead Coins (Aka Vulnerable Coins / Depreciated Coins / Depressed Coins / Failed Coins / Scam Coins). “The most common “dead coin” is a coin that never lived! 🙂” – Coinopsy.com 

Some interesting metrics and highlights. Hey Google, tell me about dead coins…

• As of August 2018, there are currently an estimated to be around 1,000 dead cypto coins aka ‘shit coins’ in the world.
• 2,170 cryptocurrencies, according to investing.com’s current list as of August 21, 2018
  • Total Market Cap: $209,904,685,057 Vol (24H): $11,067,868,861
• The top 20 cryptocurrencies account for 89% of the total market
• The median cryptocurrency’s market cap is just $925,000, meaning that half are worth more and half are worth less.
• Some reasons why a coin may become a dead coin include: ICO Cash Grab / ICO Scams (pre-mine or Airdrops or fake online wallets, fake teams, trick investors, dishonesty), No exchanges/Abandonment (projects that never take full fruition), No momentum/experience (inexperienced team with small budgets usually, coin or token never gains the traction needed to take the project and meet the deadlines on the road map/long term plan.)
• The lure of ICOs as a fundraising method is undeniably impressive, with over $9 billion raised in the form of cryptocurrencies since 2017, as per a Satis Group report. On the basis of the above classification, we found that approximately 81% of ICO’s were Scams, ~6% Failed, ~5% had Gone Dead, and ~8% went on to trade on a exchange as of March 8, 2018.

• Within the 8%, in coins/tokens with an MCap of $50M+: ~47% were Successful, ~20% were Promising, and ~34% were Dwindling.
• In coins/tokens with an MCap of $50M — $100M (the lowest tier tracked): ~24% were Successful, ~22% were Promising, and ~54% were Dwindling.

Different types of ICO Dead Coins

Abandoned Dead Coins: Abandoned Dead Coins are said to be the most common therefore I am starting the list with them. Usually these coins or tokens aren’t linked to any reason for why it died or even where it went, they fall into the default abandoned classification of the unknown. Lots of the time the money claimed from the ICO will be returned back to the investors and no harm was done other than maybe the time lost waiting for the project to come to a end.

ICO Dead Coins: With early investment and huge mooning potential gains comes with high risk. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are the high risk/high reward place to invest, however exciting, stats say that 60%+ ending up dead coins before they even get an exchange or their first birthday.

Joke Dead Coins: An accurate guess is that over 90-95% of jokes coins end up dead, so before you invest in a joke coins make sure it is not a joke. If it is a joke at least make sure it has some top developers.

Scam Dead Coins (pre-trading):  These are coins where people have been scammed. Refers to any project that expressed availability of ICO investment did not have/had no intention of fulfilling project development duties with the funds, and/or was deemed by the community to be a scam.

So what is the definition that makes something labelled a ‘Dead Coin’

• Ranked below 1000 in trading coins for over 3 months
• Wallet issues
• Volume under $1000 USD for 3 months
• Dead website and no trace of updates on any social media or web prescence
• No nodes or other similar problems
• Scamming listing or flag in the top 1000
• Low volume in the top 1000 consistently
• No updates and neglect
• Related to poor founder reputation / past scams
• Dead coin listings website note

ICO-funded startups and the fly-by-night nature of many of companies has not done a good service for the cryptocurrency and cryptoassets industry as a whole. The lure of ICOs as a fundraising method is undeniably impressive, with over $9 billion raised in the form of cryptocurrencies since 2017, as per a Satis Group report, which attempted to classify ICO’s by quality: development & trading.

Where can I get more information on Dead Coins? Two sites that are actively cataloging failed crypto projects, Coinopsy and DeadCoins.

“ICO-funded startups currently use multi-level marketing tactics to build their business. Instead they should take a page from the the Kickstarter and Indiegogo framework. These crowd-funding platforms have made trust an art. By creating collateral that defines the team, the project, the risks and the future of the idea, you can easily build businesses even without much funding. ” – TechCrunch

Overall wise words of advice on ICO investing, the bottom line: Never invest more than you are willing to lose because the more monumental the potential gains the higher the risk.

As curiosity, here is a quick bulleted pointed list of SOME dead coins lost in the digital blackhole graveyard of FUD, FOMO, dreams & despair… (CAUTION: Lots of scrolling about to happen)

• 2chcoin 2CH
• 66coin 66
• 8coin
• 99cents
• Acros ACRO
• AeroCoin
• Aiden ADN
• Aircoin AIR
• Alcohoin ALC
• Alicoin ALI
• AlienCoin ALN
• AllAgesCoin
• Allahcoin
• Alphacoin ALF
• AlphaOmegaCoin AOC
• Altrocoin
• AmericanCoin AMC
• AmeriCoin
• AminaCoin
• AmKoin AMK
• Apecoin APE
• AphroditeCoin APH
• Appcoin APP
• AppleByte ABY
• Arkhash ARK
• Armoredcoin
• AssPennies ASS
• AstroCoin ASR
• AustraliaCoin AUS
• Babycoin BBC
• BaconBitsCoin YUM
• Badcoin BAD
• Basecoin
• BatCoin BAT
• BeaoCoin BEC
• Beatlecoin BEA
• BeeCoin BEE
• BeerCoin BEER
• BeliCoin BELI
• BellaCoin BELA
• Bells BEL
• BestCoin BSC
• BIG Bullion BIG
• Billaume BLL
• Binarycoin BIC
• Birdcoin BRD
• Bitcoin2 BTC2
• Bitcoin2.0
• Bitcoin3.0
• Bitcredits
• BiteCoin
• Bitgold
• Bitinium BTN
• Bitland
• Bitleu BTL
• Bitpeso BTP
• Bitpug
• Bitquark BTQ
• Bitraam BRM
• BitStar BITS
• BlakeBitcoin BBTC
• Blazecoin BLZ
• Blitzcoin BLTZ
• BlobbyCoin
• Blockshares BKS
• Bluechip BCH
• Bones BONES
• BonusCoins BNS
• Boomcoin BMC
• Boringcoin
• Bosscoin BOS
• Bountycoin BOC
• Boxxycoin BOXX
• Boycoin BOY
• BrasilCoin BRAC
• Brokebackmountaincoin
• BTCTalkCoin BCC
• Bumbacoin CLOT
• Burbucoin BUR
• ButterflyCoin BUR
• Bytom BTM
• Cagecoin CAGE
• Californiacoin CAC
• Canada Ecoin CDN
• Cancercurecoin CCC
• Cannabis Industry Coin XCI
• Cannacoin
• Capitalcoin CPTL
• Carpe Diem Coin DIEM
• CataloniaCoin CATC
• Catedoge
• Chaincoin
• Championcoin
• Chancoin 4CHN 2 Comments
• Charitycoin CHA
• Chichicoin UUC
• Chicoin CHI
• CHNcoin CHN
• Chococoin CCC
• ChoomCoin
• ChuckCoin
• Citizencoin CTZ
• ClockCoin
• Clockwisecoin
• CloudCoin CDC
• Cnote CNOTE
• Cococoin COCO
• Coffeecoin CFC2
• Coiledcoin
• Coin COIN
• Coin2.0 NC2
• Coincoin CC
• Coino CON
• CoinyeCoin COYE
• ColbertCoin CC
• CollegeCoin
• Cometcoin
• Compasscoin CPC
• ConcardCoin CCC
• Conspiracycoin CYC
• Cooperationcoin COOP
• CopperBars CPR
• CopyCoin COPY
• CosmosCoin CMC
• Counterpart XCP
• Crapcoin CRAP
• Crapplecoin
• Credits CRD
• Creds XXC
• Crimsoncoin CRM
• Cross Generation Coin XGC
• Crypti XCR 2 Comments
• CryptoApples CRA
• Cryptobits CYB
• Cryptobuck BUK
• CryptoEagle CREA
• CryptoEscudo CESC
• Cryptographic Anomaly CGA
• CryptoLoot LOOT
• CryptoMeth METH
• Cryptonium CRN
• CryptoStuds
• Cryptowurly CWC
• Cthulhucoin OFF
• Cubits QBT
• CuntCoin
• Cyclecoin CCC
• Cypherfunk FUNK
• Czech Crown Coin CCC
• DeleteCoin DEL
• DemonCoin DMC
• Denarius DRS
• Detacoin
• Digital Commerce DCM
• Dishercoin
• Dobbscoin BOB
• DodoCoin
• Doggcoin
• Dollarpounds DPZ
• Domecoin DOME
• Donationcoin DON
• Dopecoin DOPE
• Doubloons DBL
• Dougcoin DOUG
• Dragoncoin DNC
• Dubstepcoin WUBS
• DuckDuckCoin DUCK
• DuckieCoin
• Dvorakcoin DVK
• Eaglecoin EGC
• Ecocoin ECO
• EdisonX3
• E-Gold
• EKrona KRN
• Electriccoin VOLT
• Electron ELT
• Electronic Benefit Transfer EBT
• Electronic Gulden EFL
• Elephantcoin ELP
• Embargocoin EBG
• Emerald EMD
• EmuCoin EMU
• Entropycoin ENC
• Eoncoin EON
• Equestrianbit EQB
• Equinox EQ
• Ermahgerdcern EMG
• Eros Vision ERS
• Eternalcoin
• EToken ETOK
• EuroCoin
• Exilecoin EXN
• FAILCoin FAIL
• FairBrix
• FairQuark FRQ
• FastoinSHA FSS
• Fck Banks Coin FCK
• Fellatiocoin BLO
• Ferengicoin FER
• Ferretcoin
• FIMKrypto FIMK
• Firecoin
• Fireflycoin FFC
• Fitcoin FIT
• Floridacoin FLC
• Forexcoin FRX
• Fourchan
• FourtyTwoCoin 42
• Foxcoin FOX
• Fragcoin FRAG
• Franko FRK
• FraudCoin
• Freedomcoin FDC
• Freicoin FRC
• Frictionlesscoin FLC
• Frozencoin FZ
• Frycoin FRY
• Furrycoin FUR
• Gaelcoin GAC
• Galaxycoin GLX
• Galleon GLN
• Galtcoin GLT
• Gamecoin GME
• GameLeageCoin GML
• Gamerscoin GMC
• Gasolinecoin DZL
• Gatescoin GTC
• Gaycoin GAY
• Gemcoin
• Genecoin
• GeneCoin
• Genesiscoin GNS
• Geocoins GEO
• Ghostcoin GHC
• Giarcoin GIAR
• GiftCoin GFT
• Gil GIL
• Girlcoin GIRL
• Givecoin GIVE
• Globalboost BST
• Global Denomination GDN
• Globe GLB
• Globecoin GLOBE
• Goatcoin GOAT
• Godcoin GOD
• Gold Bars
• Goldcoin GLD
• Gold Pressed Latinum GPL
• Gollumcoin GLM
• GoodCoin GOOD
• Goxcoin GOX
• Grain GRA
• Grandcoin GDC
• Granitecoin GRN
• Graphene GRP
• GravyCoin
• GreeceCoin GRCE
• Groincoin GXG
• Growthcoin GRW
• Guncoin GUN
• H2Ocoin H20
• HackerNewsCoin
• HashCoin
• HawaiiCoin HIC
• Heisenberg HEX
• Helixcoin HXC
• Hellcoin HLC
• HernCoin
• Highfivecoin H5C
• Hobbitcoin HBC
• HongKetoCoin HKC
• HongKongCoin HKC
• Horsecoin HORS
• Hotcoin HOT
• HTMLcoin HTML
• Huatecoin HUC
• Huitong HTC
• Huskycoin HC
• Hypercoin
• Icoin ICN
• iDice ICE
• Imperial Coin IPC
• IncaCoin NKA
• Informationcoin ITC
• Inkcoin INK
• Insanitycoin WOLF
• Instapay IPC
• Internet Peso IPO
• Inven
• IshaCoin
• Isra Coin IRA
• Italycoin ITC
• Ixcoin
• JasonCoin
• Jennycoin JNY
• Jerkcoin
• Jerkycoin JKY
• JesusCoin JJC
• Jewels JWL
• JezusCoin
• JoeCoin
• JunnonCoin JNC
• Kakacoin KKC
• Karpcoin KARP
• KarpelesCoin KAR
• KashmirCoin KSC
• Keisercoin
• KhalsaCoin
• Kiffercoin
• Killercoin KILR
• Kimcoin
• Kimdotcoin
• Kingcoin
• Klingon Empire Darsek KED
• Koindashian KOIN
• Krugercoin
• KrugmanCoin
• Kudos KDS
• Kumacoin KUMA
• Kushcoin KHC
• Leadcoin LDC
• Lebowskis LBW
• LegendaryCoin LGD
• LegitCoin
• Lemoncoin LMC
• LeproCoin LPC
• Levelcoin
• Lightvelocitycoin LVC
• Limecoin LC
• LimecoinLite LCL
• Limecoinx LIMX
• Liquidcoin
• Litecoin Plus XLC
• LiteCoinX LTCX
• Livecoin LVC
• Lolcoin LOL
• Lottery Tickets TIX
• LoveCoin LOVE
• Lucky7coin LK7
• Lycancoin LYC
• Machinecoin MAC
• MagicCoin MGC
• Magicoin MAGIC
• Maki MAKI
• Malecoin
• Maplecoin MPL
• Mariocoin
• MediaCoin
• Mediterraneancoin MED
• Megcoin MEG
• Melange SPICE
• Memecoin MEM
• Metiscoin MTS
• Milancoin MLC
• Millionairecoin MIL
• Minerals MIN
• Mjollnircoin MNR
• MmjCoin
• Molecule MOL
• Moneyenom MYM
• MouseCoin
• MtGoxcoin GOX
• Muniti MUN
• Mutcoin MUT
• Naanayam NYM
• Nakacoin NKC
• Nanotoken NAN
• Nbcoin NBC
• NeonCoin
• NewStatesmanCoin
• NexusCoin
• Nigger NGR
• NightCoin
• Niuecoin
• Noahcoin NOAH
• Noodlyappendagecoin NDL
• Nucoin NUC
• Nutcoin NUT
• NXO
• NXR
• Obama_bin_lotteryCoin
• ObamaCoin
• Ocoin OSC
• OilCoin OIL
• OKDCoin OKD
• OneCoin
• Onioncoin ONI
• Onlinegamingcoin OGC
• Orbitcoin ORB
• Orcacoin ORCA
• Oreocoin OREO
• ORObit ORO
• Ottomancoin OTC
• Paccoin PAC
• Pandacoin PAND
• Pangucoin PGC
• ParagonCoin PRG
• ParallaxCoin PLX
• Patriotcoin USA
• Paycoin PYC
• Peacecoin PEC
• Peerpay
• Penguincoin PENG
• Pennies CENT
• Peoplecoin PPL
• Phcoin PHC
• Phicoin PHI
• PhotonCoin PHO
• Picoin
• Pieces
• Pikacoin PIK
• Piniumcoin PNC
• Piratecoin PIR
• PixelCoin PXL
• Platinum Bars
• Platinumcoin PT
• Playtoken PLT
• Pokercoin POK
• Polcoin PLC
• Polishcoin
• Polycoin
• Popcoin POP
• PopularCoin POP
• Poundcoin PUK
• Powercoin POW
• Preminecoin PMC
• Primcoin
• Procoin PCN
• Prospercoin PRC
• Protoshares PTS
• Pwnycoin PWNY
• Pxlcoin PXL
• QuackCoin
• Quatloo QTL
• Qubitcoin Q2C
• Quebecoin QBC
• Quick Quick Coin QQC
• Quora QUORA
• Rabbitcoin
• Radioactivecoin RAD
• Rainbowcoin LGBT
• Rainbowgoldcoin RAIN
• Rapidcoin RPD
• Rastacoin RTC
• Ratcoin RATC
• Realcoin REC
• RiceCoin
• Richcoin RCH
• Rightcoin RTC
• RiseCoin
• Rocketcoin ROC
• Romancoin ROM
• Rosecoin
• Rotocoin RT2
• Royalcoin RYC
• Rubycoin
• Rupaycoin RUP
• Saffroncoin SFR
• SailCoin
• SambaCoin SMB
• Sapphirecoin SPH
• Savecoin SPC
• Savingcoin SAV
• Saw SAW
• Scamcoin SCC
• Scoin SCO
• Scotcoin SCOT
• Secondscoin
• Securecoin SRC
• Seedcoin SDC
• Serracoin SRR
• Sha1coin SHA
• Shares
• Sherlockcoin SHC
• Shibecoin SHIBE
• ShieldCoin SHLD
• Shillingcoin
• Siamesecoin SIS
• Sifcoin
• SiliconValleyCoin XSV
• Silkcoin SILK
• Silver bars
• Silvercoin SRC, BEFORE SECURECOIN HAD IT
• SilvioBerlusCoin
• Singularity SING
• Skeincoin SKC
• Skycoin SYC
• Skynet-coin SNC
• Slendercoin SNC
• SlothCoin SLOTH
• Smartcoin
• Snowcoin SNC
• Soapbar SOAP
• Sochicoin SOCHI
• Socialcoin SOC
• SolCoin SOL
• SolidCoin
• Spaincoin SPA
• Speedcoin SPC
• Spirecoin
• Spirecoin SPC SPC
• Spodermancoin SDM
• Sprout
• StableCoin SBC
• Stackedcoin
• Stacycoin
• Stalwartbucks SBX
• Starcoin STR
• StarvingArtistCoin
• STLcoin STL
• StockCoin STC
• Stop
• Storagecoin
• Stories STY
• Streamcoin STRC
• Suncoin SUN
• SupercalifragilisticexpialidociousCoin
• Supercoin SUPER
• Superherocoin
• Superior Coin SUP
• SurgeCoin SRG
• Swagcoin SWAG
• Swisscoin
• Switchcoin SWITCH
• Syncoin SYN
• Tacocoin TCO
• Takcoin[TAK]
• Takeoutcoin
• Techcoin TECH
• Teddycoin TDY
• Tenebrix
• TenFiveCoin 10-5
• Teslacoin TES
• ThaiCoin
• Thcoin THC
• Thecoin
• TheSmurfscoin TSC
• Thundercoin
• Tigercoin TGC
• Timekoin TK
• Titanium TTN
• Tittiecoin TTC
• TokeCoin
• Tomatocoin
• TomScottCoin
• TraceCoin
• TraderCoin TDC
• Traincoin XTN
• Trollcoin
• Troptions
• Truckcoin TRK
• Turbocoin XTP
• UFOcoin UFO
• Ultimatecoin ULT
• UniteCoin UNI
• United Federation Credit UFC
• Unitycoin UNT
• Universitycoin UVC
• Vadercoin VADR
• Valuecoin VLC
• Vampirecoin VMP
• Vanillacoin
• Vcoin
• Vegascoin VGC
• Veilcoin VEIL
• Velocitycoin VEL
• Vendettacoin VAC
• Venividivicicoin VVV
• Verncoin VRN
• VeroCoin VRO
• Version
• Viral VIRAL
• VirtualMiningCoin VMC
• Viruscoin
• VisaCoin VISA
• VisnCoin VISN
• Vodkacoin
• Votecoin
• Watcoin
• Wavecoin WVS
• WeAreSatoshi WAS
• Webcoin WEB
• Wecoin WEC
• Wikicoin WIKI
• Wincoin WIN
• Wolongcoin WOL
• World Football Coin
• Wpcoin WPC
• X11coin
• X13coin
• X14coin X14
• Xcoin XCO
• Xedoscoin XDC
• Xencoin XEN
• Xivra XIV
• XXLcoin XXL
• YACcoin YACC
• Yamashitacoin YMC
• Yangcoin
• Yincoin
• YinYuanCoin YYC
• YooCoin YOO
• Yuan Bao YBC
• ZCoin
• Zedcoin
• Zenithcoin ZTC
• Zeuscoin ZEU
• Ziber ZBR
• Zodiaccoin ZOD
• Zombiecoin ZMB
• Zurcoin ZUR

SRC: Wired, TechCrunch, CoinJanitor, CCN , Coinopsy, CoinTelegraph, Medium, coinschedule.com, icodata.io, coindesk.com, icorating.com, coinscamlist.com, deadcoins.com, tokendata.io, ico-check.com, coinmarketcap.com, bitcoinexchange guide