U.S founders responsible for nearly 50% of all crypto scam projects

5Money and Storible partnered in a study that placed the U.S. at the top of a list tracking scams and failed crypto projects. U.S. founders were responsible for nearly 43% of crypto scams and 33% of dead crypto projects worldwide. Russia led with the highest rate of scam crypto projects at 24%. Also, South Korea had the highest rate of failed crypto projects at 59%, while Singapore was a close second at 54%.

The study identified Vietnam as the only developing country on the top ten lists for founding the most fraudulent and dead crypto projects.

The two-year study investigated 1,544 crypto projects sourced from Coinbase. Dead crypto projects were determined based on liquidity (<$50K), 24-hour trading volume (<1K), official X activity, down websites, and delisting from CoinMarketCap.

Disproportionate rate of failed American start-ups and crypto projects

According to a report by Vietnam’s 5money, the U.S.-based founders are responsible for a staggering 43.4% of all identified crypto scams in 2024. #USA #CryptoScam #GlobalOrder #Report #CryptoBan #Cryptocurrency #TheCryptocountry #Cryptostan pic.twitter.com/bquGNAJdbj

— Cryptostan.official (@The_Cryptostan) November 21, 2024

The study reported that U.S. crypto founders topped the list of failed crypto projects and scams. The report cited the 2022 collapse of Sam Bankman Fried’s $32 billion FTX platform. SBF’s FTX went belly up for abusing billions of user funds to cover Alameda Research’s hazardous bets. 

FTX’s declaration of bankruptcy shook the industry and caused huge losses. The FTX case, according to the study, raised questions about transparency, supervision, and ethics in the U.S. crypto market. It also highlighted the risks of the rapid, unchecked growth of U.S. crypto projects.

The research also mentioned that the U.S. is responsible for the highest number of dead crypto projects, while China and the UK tied for second place, each accounting for 7%. Singapore and South Korea also ranked high, reflecting the challenges of sustaining crypto projects in regional hubs. 

Russian scam crypto developers on the map

According to the joint research, Russian developers were in the lead for the highest rate of developers launching crypto scams. Swiss developers were second, with 22% of crypto project developers turning out to be scams. China came third, with 20% of its developers being linked to crypto scams. Vietnam also made the top ten for scam crypto developers, highlighting the risks in the fast-expanding Asian market.

According to the study, over half of crypto projects in South Korea, Singapore, the UK, Canada, and the Netherlands ended up dead. Vietnam came in at sixth, with nearly 42% of crypto projects failing. The researchers noted that Vietnam’s score was relatively high for a developing nation with a booming crypto industry. They revealed that Vietnamese developers were responsible for 1.3% of all scam projects and 2% of dead projects. Additionally, they observed that Vietnam had a scam rate of 12%. 

According to 5Money and Storible, the prevalence of scams and failed crypto initiatives across different countries also highlighted how regulatory gaps influence project prognostics. The researchers also highlighted that market optimism also played a crucial role in determining a project’s fate.

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