A look at the rise and fall of Bitcoin exchanges over the past seven years

     It has been 7 years since the birth of Bitcoin . During these 7 years, we have witnessed the birth and death of one Bitcoin exchange after another. So how many Bitcoin exchanges are still operating? Which Bitcoin exchanges have closed down?

     It is a bit difficult to make such a list, but according to Brave New Coin's tracking, there are about 111 Bitcoin exchanges, while the Bitcoin Wiki records 162 Bitcoin exchanges. Some exchanges may not be included due to regional and language barriers.

     Some of these exchanges have been acquired or closed down. Brave New Coin lists 36 Bitcoin exchanges that have closed down or been acquired.

     Of the 36 closed bitcoin exchanges, two were acquired, two closed due to loss of partnership with banks, 16 gave up operations due to financial difficulties, and of the 16 exchanges, four closed due to hacker attacks and four closed due to involvement in illegal activities. It is estimated that nearly 950,000 bitcoins are lost.

The Mt. Gox incident has attracted much attention. Legendary venture capitalist Fred Wilson said,

     We are witnessing the gradual maturation of an industry, and some failures are inevitable. From what I have observed, almost every emerging technology will experience such growing pains.

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen once said:

     There is no doubt that every important new technology will go through the pain of childbirth. This is true for computers, the Internet, and certainly for Bitcoin. But our enthusiasm and trust in it will not change.

     For those who believe in market Darwinism, it is a good thing for capital to be transferred from incompetent people to those who can create better products. Darwinism believes that the market can only become more mature through a natural selection process similar to natural selection, where the fittest survive. The above 36 Bitcoin exchanges that have closed down or been acquired may be a manifestation of the maturity of the Bitcoin industry.