DeFi and NFT retreat leaves analytics firms rethinking strategy
On-chain analytics firm Parsec is shutting down after five years in operation, citing a shift in market dynamics that left its core focus misaligned with the industry’s current direction.
In a statement on X, the company confirmed it is winding down operations. CEO Will Sheehan acknowledged that Parsec’s emphasis on decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens no longer reflected where capital and user activity are flowing.
Related reporting: Matcha Meta breach traced to SwapNet exploit drains up to $16.8M on Base
“Post-FTX, DeFi spot lending leverage never really came back in the same way,” Sheehan said, noting that on-chain behavior evolved into patterns the team struggled to fully understand.
The broader backdrop has been challenging. NFT sales totaled about $5.63 billion in 2025, down 37% from the prior year, according to CryptoSlam. Average sale prices also slipped, underscoring a cooling market that once drove significant on-chain analytics demand.
From bull market launch to bear market reset
Parsec launched in early 2021, just ahead of Bitcoin’s surge from roughly $36,000 to $60,000 within months. Backed by major names including Uniswap, Polychain Capital and Galaxy Digital, the firm built tools aimed at
helping traders navigate fast-moving DeFi and NFT markets.
But the industry has since entered a different phase. Bitcoin is down about 46% from its October peak of $126,100, trading near $67,000, according to CoinMarketCap. Meanwhile, search interest in phrases like “Bitcoin going to zero” has climbed to levels not seen since the post-FTX fallout in late 2022, according to Google Trends.
In a farewell message, Parsec described its journey as “quite the ride,” thanking users and supporters who followed it through crypto’s boom-and-bust cycles. Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik said the firm “had a great run.”
Signs of consolidation in a maturing sector
Parsec’s closure comes amid growing signs of consolidation across the crypto industry. Startups are grappling with thinner trading volumes, shifting user behavior and tighter funding conditions.
Entropy, another crypto startup, recently announced it would shut down and return funds to investors, citing product-market fit challenges. Bullish CEO Tom Farley has predicted a wave of mergers and acquisitions, arguing that larger firms are likely to absorb smaller players as the sector matures.
For analytics providers in particular, the shift away from speculative NFT trading and leveraged DeFi activity may require new business models centered on institutional flows, tokenized assets or compliance tools.