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Structural failure

Unsustainable Yield Subsidy

Headline yield maintained from a visibly depleting reserve. Confidence holds until the runway is short enough to measure, then it does not.

Records exhibiting this pattern

Exchange collapse·July 13, 2022resolved
Celsius Network Collapse — July 2022
The largest centralised crypto lender suspended withdrawals on 12 June 2022 and filed for Chapter 11 a month later, owing approximately $4.7 billion to retail depositors.
$4.70B affected
Depeg·May 9, 2022resolved
Terra / UST Depeg — May 2022
The third-largest stablecoin lost its dollar peg over four days, taking $40 billion in combined LUNA and UST market cap to zero.
$40.00B affected
Rugpull·June 30, 2019resolved
PlusToken Ponzi — June 2019
A Chinese-origin Ponzi scheme that operated across China, Korea and Southeast Asia raised an estimated $2-3 billion in crypto before its founders were arrested in 2019. Subsequent Chinese government sales of seized BTC weighed on markets through 2020.
$2.50B affected