Industry experts have raised concerns about the tactics allegedly employed by US banks to stifle the growth of major crypto platforms such as Coinbase and Robinhood.
Alex Rampell, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), expressed his concerns in a newsletter on July 31.
US Banks Accused of Leading Operation Chokepoint 3.0
Rampell pointed out that banks, including industry giants like JPMorgan, may be deliberately inflating transaction fees. According to him, these institutions are also limiting banking access to undermine the crypto sector.
He explained that a $10 fee on a $100 transfer into a crypto account could dissuade many users from proceeding.
“If it suddenly costs $10 to move $100 into a Coinbase or Robinhood account, maybe fewer people will do it. Or if it costs $10 to get a cheaper loan from a fintech, maybe you’ll be forced to take a crappier one from JPM,” he stated.
He also pointed out that banks might go as far as preventing consumers from linking their bank accounts to crypto or fintech services. This would force them to remain reliant on traditional financial products.
Rampell likened these actions to the controversial “Operation Chokepoint,” a Biden-era initiative that aimed to restrict crypto companies’ access to banking.
However, this time, he argues, the initiative appears to be driven by the banks themselves.
“JPMorganChase is an $800 billion company. Make no mistake: this isn’t about a new revenue stream. It’s about strangling competition. And if they get away with this, every bank will follow,” Rampell argued.
Notably, Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, previously echoed these concerns and warned that banks are actively working to undermine the crypto industry.
Meanwhile, Robinhood is extending its services to over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs across 31 European countries. The platform is offering commission-free trading and dividend support to attract users in these regions.
On Tuesday morning, US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran was now “in effect,” offering relief from days of sustained pressure across global markets.
Following the announcement, major digital assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, have seen modest rebounds. As crypto prices increase, attention is turning to US-listed crypto-related equities that may benefit from renewed momentum.
LQWD Technologies (LQWD)
LQWD rose 107% during Monday’s trading session, making it one of the crypto stocks to watch as the market rebounds today.
This three-digit spike followed the company announcement of the grant of 788,000 stock options to its team, signaling internal confidence and long-term commitment. The options, priced at C$3.70 (approximately $2.70 USD) and vesting over 24 months, suggest strategic alignment among executives and stakeholders.
Readings from the LQWD/USD one-day chart show that the stock climbed to an all-time high of $9.34 during Monday’s session. On that day, its Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) also rose to a high of 0.76, confirming the high demand for the stock.
If demand remains high once trading begins today, LQWD could rally to new price peaks.
On the other hand, if it sees a surge in profit-taking, it could fall to $7.22.
IREN Limited (IREN)
IREN shares are up 2% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, still enjoying momentum following the issuer’s successful closing of a $550 million offering of 3.50% convertible senior notes due 2029.
On the daily chart, IREN’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 65.34 and is in an uptrend, signalling a high demand for the asset.
The RSI indicator measures an asset’s overbought and oversold market conditions. It ranges between 0 and 100. Values above 70 suggest that the asset is overbought and due for a price decline, while values under 30 indicate that the asset is oversold and may witness a rebound.
IREN’s RSI, at 65.34, confirms the buy-side pressure. If this persists, the stock’s price could climb to $11.72.
However, if demand falls, the stock’s value could fall toward $10.46.
BIGG Digital Assets Inc (BIGG)
BIGG Digital Assets shares are climbing today following the launch of a new PlayStar Casino activation within its immersive virtual platform, the Intraverse, developed by its subsidiary TerraZero Technologies.
The initiative allows users to access the virtual casino directly via mobile or desktop. It generates affiliate revenue for each verified account sign-up and drives organic traffic through upcoming artist-led campaigns and customizable fan experiences.
BIGG closed strongly on Monday, with the stock surging by 4%. If trading volume climbs further once trading resumes today, BIGG could extend its gains and climb toward $0.135.
POPCAT has faced significant challenges since the beginning of February, as attempts at recovery have failed to materialize. Despite some price rallies, the meme coin has struggled to regain its losses, with a 48% drop weighing heavily on its performance.
While the altcoin is still attempting a recovery, a lack of strong support and market optimism is causing delays in any significant rebound. But the meme coin did have a key bullish moment this week.
POPCAT Needs Investors’ Backing
The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) indicator has remained stuck below the zero line for the past three and a half months. This suggests that inflows into POPCAT have been weak since early December 2024, with little buying interest. The lack of conviction due to fear of losses from investors has contributed to a lack of momentum, keeping the meme coin from experiencing a recovery.
The weak CMF reading signals that investors are not pouring money into POPCAT, which is preventing a meaningful price increase. This has led to the coin’s struggle to maintain any positive price action, further delaying the recovery.
Technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) also reflect POPCAT’s struggle to find sustained momentum. The RSI has remained below the neutral line of 50.0 for the past three months, indicating weak bullish signals. This reinforces the notion that broader market cues are not supporting a strong recovery for the meme coin.
Without support from the broader market, POPCAT has found it difficult to break out of its current downtrend. Until the market improves, POPCAT is unlikely to break its bearish cycle.
Over the last four days, POPCAT has rallied nearly 20%, currently trading at $0.180. A key catalyst was Robinhood’s POPCAT listing on Thursday, which is expected to drive more investment into the asset and expose it to more investors.
The altcoin has bounced off the support level of $0.140 and is now under the resistance of $0.203. While this recent recovery is encouraging, it will face significant challenges in breaching the $0.203 barrier.
Given the weak market conditions and investor sentiment, POPCAT could struggle to break through the $0.203 resistance. It is more likely that the altcoin will consolidate within the range of $0.140 to $0.203, at least until stronger market cues emerge. This could delay any potential recovery further.
However, if market conditions and investor behavior improve, POPCAT may push past the $0.203 resistance. A successful breach of this level could see the altcoin test $0.238, invalidating the current bearish outlook. This would signal a shift in market sentiment and possibly set the stage for a more sustained recovery.
Over 50% of all cryptocurrencies ever launched since 2021 are now defunct. An even more alarming trend is emerging in 2025, where the percentage of failed tokens launched this year has reached the same level in just the first five months.
That percentage will naturally rise with more than half of the year left. Representatives from Binance and Dune Analytics told BeInCrypto that these failures are just another reminder of the need to launch viable projects, backed by solid tokenomics and a robust community.
Ghost Tokens Skyrocket
A recent CoinGecko report revealed some jaw-dropping data. Of the approximately 7 million cryptocurrencies listed on GeckoTerminal since 2021, 3.7 million have subsequently died.
Several factors are considered when evaluating whether a coin has reached its end.
“A coin is classified as ‘dead’ when it loses all utility, liquidity, and community engagement. Key indicators include near-zero trading volume, abandoned development (no GitHub commits for 6+ months), and a price drop of 99%+ from its all-time high. Teams often vanish without warning—social media accounts go dormant, domains expire,” Alsie Liu, Content Manager at Dune Analytics, told BeInCrypto.
Half of all tokens launched since 2021 have died. Source: CoinGecko.
A significant 53% of listed cryptocurrencies have failed, with most collapses concentrated in 2024 and 2025. Notably, the over 1.82 million tokens already stopped trading in 2025 significantly outpaced the approximately 1.38 million failures recorded throughout 2024.
With seven months out of the year ahead, this trend of increasing failures in the current year will continue to grow.
CoinGecko specifically suggested a potential link between economic concerns like tariffs and recession fears, noting a surge in meme coin launches after a certain election, with subsequent market volatility likely contributing to their decline.
However, not all responsibility can be placed on a greater economic downturn. Other aspects can contribute to these project failures.
“Common factors include inability to find product market fit leading to negligible interest from users or investors, or project teams that focus too much on short-term speculation with no long-term roadmap, and sometimes abandonment by developers (rug pulls). Broader issues like fraudulent intentions, weak user traction, novelty-driven hype, financial shortfalls, poor execution, strong competition, or security failures also contribute to project failure,” a Binance spokesperson told BeInCrypto.
The rapid rise in ghost tokens also came with the exponential launch of projects en masse, particularly since the start of 2024.
Analyzing the Life-Death Ratio
Last year was novel in its own right following the proliferation of meme coins. This new narrative emerged particularly after the launch of Pump.fun, a Solana platform that allows anyone to launch a token at a minimal cost.
According to CoinGecko data, 3 million new tokens were listed on CoinGecko in 2024 alone. Half of these projects died, but the other half survived. However, the situation in 2025 appears less stable.
The difference between token launches and failures in 2025 is minimal. Source: CoinGecko.
While the number of new token launches remains high, the number of failures is nearly equivalent, with launches only marginally exceeding deaths by about a thousand.
“Ecosystems with low barriers to token creation see the highest number of ghost coins. In general, platforms that make it very easy and cheap to launch new tokens see the most abandoned coins. During this cycle, Solana’s meme coin surge (e.g., via token launchpads like Pump.fun) drove a flood of new tokens, many of which lost user traction and daily activity once initial hype faded,” Binance’s spokesperson explained.
As of March 5, the meme coin market capitalization had sharply decreased to $54 billion, marking a 56.8% drop from its peak of $125 billion on December 5, 2024. This downturn was accompanied by a significant decrease in trading activity, with volumes falling by 26.2% in the preceding month alone.
Certain token categories have been hit harder than others.
Music and Video Tokens Among the Hardest-Hit Categories
A 2024 BitKE report indicated that video and music were prominent categories with many failed cryptocurrency projects, reaching a 75% failure rate. This outsized percentage suggests that niche-focused crypto ventures often face challenges in achieving long-term viability.
“These niches face adoption and utility gaps. Music tokens struggle to compete with Spotify/YouTube, while ‘listen-to-earn’ models often lack demand. As more mainstream celebrities get into the space without knowing much about blockchain technology, tokens have become the new cash-grab business,” Liu explained.
Binance’s spokesperson noted that legal and technical hurdles, such as music licensing and the significant resources needed for video delivery, complicated the scaling of decentralized alternatives.
They further explained that many projects struggled to remain sustainable without substantial user adoption or strong network effects.
“This highlights that a good concept alone is not enough; crypto projects must also compete with entrenched Web2 platforms, navigate complex industry challenges, and deliver real-world utility to succeed. Without aligning with user behavior and market needs, even well-intentioned initiatives risk fading into ghost tokens,” Binance told BeInCrypto.
Despite the discouraging number of failed tokens, this situation offers important insights into building resilient projects that withstand unfavorable market conditions.
What Can We Learn From Catastrophic Token Collapses?
Prospective token creators can learn significant lessons from once-popular projects that ultimately failed. The negative outcomes experienced by these ventures, particularly in severe instances, can motivate the development of new projects responsibly and avoid similar pitfalls.
Binance referred to notorious ghost coin cases BitConnect and OneCoin.
“BitConnect, once a top-10 coin, collapsed in 2018 after being exposed as a Ponzi scheme promising ~1% daily returns. Investors lost nearly $2 billion. OneCoin, raising ~$4 billion, never had a real blockchain and relied on aggressive multi-level marketing before collapsing. Both cases highlight the dangers of projects built on hype, unrealistic promises, and lack of verifiable technology,” Binance’s spokesperson explained.
While concerning, the rising number of ghost coins serves as a crucial reminder that discernible warning signs often precede the downfall of these cryptocurrencies.
These cases underline the necessity of rigorous research, validating underlying principles, and maintaining a cautious perspective, especially when investment gains appear unrealistically high. Prioritizing risk management and sustainable long-term factors should outweigh short-term speculative trading.
Binance particularly highlighted the importance of “Do Your Own Research” (DYOR) when evaluating crypto projects.
“Practically, this means reviewing the whitepaper, assessing whether the project solves a real problem, verifying the team’s credibility, examining tokenomics and supply distribution, and checking community and development activity,” Binance said, adding that “In essence, DYOR is about empowerment and protection. It helps investors identify solid projects and avoid scams or ghost tokens by spotting red flags early. Given how fast crypto markets move, personal due diligence remains essential for navigating the space safely and successfully.”
Ultimately, the prevalence of ghost tokens highlights a critical truth for crypto participants: thorough research and fundamental value are paramount for identifying lasting projects.
