I’m seeing a very interesting wave happening in the crypto market in 2026. It seems we’re experiencing a significant contraction, with dozens of projects announcing closures or liquidation processes. This isn’t just small stuff—we’re talking about infrastructure, blockchains, and application layers.

This week alone, there was news that Mint Blockchain will shut down completely. Users have until October 20 to withdraw their assets. Before that, Seamless—the lending protocol on Base—had already announced that it will close its interface on June 30. And Dmail Network is also exiting the game, gradually stopping operations starting May 15.

What stands out is that it’s not just protocols. Tools and wallets are also entering the shutdown phase. The Leap Wallet from the Cosmos ecosystem will shut down on May 28, and users need to migrate their assets. Intergaze—also focused on NFTs and zero gas—is leaving as well. Parsec, an on-chain analytics tool that operated for five years, has shut down and started issuing refunds. Even Polynomial, a DeFi derivatives protocol, has announced an orderly shutdown.

But what’s truly impressive is seeing bigger projects transition. Magic Eden, for example, is shutting down its Bitcoin and EVM markets, and it is also suspending support for the multichain wallet. This shows that even the largest players aren’t immune to this contraction. Step Finance was hit by an attack, which is why SolanaFloor and Remora Markets will close—but interestingly, SolanaFloor was acquired by the Jito Foundation and will be restarted.

There’s more: ZeroLend has reduced virtually all LTVs to 0% and is encouraging users to withdraw funds quickly. Angle Protocol, the decentralized stablecoin platform, will shut down in March 2027 and become the Merkl DeFi incentives platform.

What’s clear is that this bearish round isn’t a joke. It covered everything—blockchains, lending protocols, NFT markets, wallets, and analytics tools. When you see Magic Eden making strategic transitions and established projects shutting down, you can tell that the market is genuinely reorganizing. Some projects can’t adapt; others are transforming. It’s a period of natural selection in crypto, where only the most resilient and well-capitalized can navigate this turbulence.