Defunct Crypto Exchange: What Happens When a Crypto Exchange Dies

When a defunct crypto exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform that has permanently shut down with no way to access funds or customer support. Also known as a failed crypto exchange, it leaves users with nothing but a blank website and silent customer service emails. This isn’t rare. In the last five years, over 100 crypto exchanges have vanished—some from hacks, others from fraud, and many because they were never real to begin with.

These platforms often start with flashy promises: zero fees, instant withdrawals, high-yield staking. But behind the scenes, they’re running on empty wallets. Take KLend, a platform misleadingly listed as a crypto exchange but actually an inactive DeFi lending protocol with no trading or users. Or Rabbit Finance (RABBIT), a leveraged DeFi token launched with big claims but zero audits, no development, and near-zero trading volume. These aren’t outliers—they’re textbook cases of what happens when a crypto project has no real infrastructure, no team, and no plan to survive. Users lose access to their coins, and there’s often no legal recourse. Even if a platform was once legitimate, a sudden shutdown means your crypto is gone unless you held it in your own wallet.

What makes a defunct crypto exchange different from a temporary outage? It’s the silence. No announcements. No refunds. No updates. Just a website that loads a 404 error or redirects to a phishing page. Many are built to collect deposits, then disappear before withdrawals are even possible. Others get hacked, and the owners walk away. In some cases, like CoPuppy (CP), a token claiming a fake CoinMarketCap airdrop with zero trading volume and no official listing., the entire operation is a scam from day one. The key warning signs? No KYC, no transparent team, no clear purpose, and promises that sound too good to be true.

Below, you’ll find real cases of exchanges and tokens that died—some after a collapse, others after being exposed as frauds. You’ll learn how they disappeared, what users lost, and how to avoid the same fate. These aren’t hypotheticals. These are stories of real people who trusted a platform that wasn’t built to last.