The United States has emerged as the global leader in fraudulent cryptocurrency projects, according to a study conducted by 5Money and Storible. The research analyzed data from January 2022 to October 2024, covering 1,544 companies.

Projects deemed “failures” exhibited liquidity below $50,000, daily trading volumes under $1,000, inactivity on social media for over three months, and inaccessible websites.

Leaders in Crypto Scams

According to the report, 43% of all fraudulent schemes originated in the U.S., followed by China (7.55%) and the UK (6.51%).

Leaders in Failed Projects

The same trio topped the list for project failures: the U.S. (33.36%), China (7.63%), and the UK (7.22%).

These countries’ rankings can be attributed to their significant contributions to the global crypto industry in terms of project launches.

Scam and Failure Rates

When analyzed as a percentage of total crypto initiatives in each country, the rankings shifted:

Russia led with 24% of projects identified as scams.
Switzerland followed at 22.22%.
China ranked third with 19.83%.

South Korea topped the list for project failures, with 59% of initiatives ending unsuccessfully. Singapore (53.75%) and the UK (52.94%) followed. In the Netherlands and Canada, exactly half of all crypto projects were deemed successful.

Key Insights

A joint report by AlphaQuest and Storible aligns with these findings. Of 12,000 projects launched since 2020, over 70% have already shut down, with 60% failing in 2023 alone. The primary driver was low liquidity and waning investor interest.

Among projects created before 2019, 60% ceased operations for similar reasons.