Is Onyxcoin dead or stuck in a bear cycle?

Launched in 2014 as Chain Protocol (CHN), Onyxcoin now seems stuck, with only minor price spikes here and there. XCN, the native governance token of Onyx, is the 144th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of around $322 million and a daily trading volume of $13.7 million.

XCN powers Onyx, also known as the XCN Ledger, a Layer 3 blockchain built on Ethereum, Base, and Arbitrum. Charts show reduced trading activity for Onyxcoin. Some investors might ask, “Is Onyx coin dead?”

In crypto, dead coins are projects that lose developer support, stop releasing updates, or no longer have an active user base. Over time, these coins can be forgotten and lose nearly all value. Will Onyxcoin end up among them?

Active development suggests Onyxcoin isn’t dead 

Despite a quiet market for Onyxcoin (XCN), the project’s team remains active, continuing to build and engage with its community. For those wondering “is Onyx coin dead or abandoned?,” the project’s regular updates suggest otherwise. Onyxcoin maintains a regular presence on social media platforms, including X. 

One of the platform’s biggest upcoming updates is the Goliath network, with a testnet expected in October 2025. According to its whitepaper, Goliath is projected to handle around 100,000 cryptocurrency transactions per second, setting a new performance benchmark.

Onyx stated that XCN will continue to exist on Ethereum with staking support for DAO governance, while the Goliath upgrade will introduce new uses for the token. Under Goliath, XCN will operate on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system, where the more XCN a node stakes, the more influence it has in network decisions. This is expected to boost XCN adoption and encourage greater participation.

Besides Goliath, Onyx plans application updates, new features, and products, including an enterprise platform and an XCN card.

Market competition puts Onyxcoin to the test

Despite ongoing development and the upcoming Goliath upgrade, Onyxcoin faces challenges from slow adoption and rising competition. The project’s performance has seen both promising spikes and sharp downturns. XCN had a standout run between mid-December 2024 and January 2025, becoming one of the most traded cryptocurrencies. This bullish period followed the Onyx AI announcement and staking initiatives. In January 2025, XCN was among the top gainers, rising over 1000% and outperforming Bitcoin, Ether, and other major cryptocurrencies.

However, after the major rally in January, XCN’s price moderated in early February 2025 due to market stabilization and profit-taking by investors. Since then, XCN has often underperformed compared to the broader altcoin market. To remain competitive, Onyx needs to see more adoption as top-performing blockchains remain in the spotlight. 

Summary: Is Onyxcoin dead? 

In conclusion, Onyxcoin isn’t dead – it’s an active project – but its future remains uncertain. The team continues to post updates and is working on significant developments.

XCN has experienced large price swings, and the rally in late 2024 and early 2025 shows it still has the potential for sharp movement. It’s listed on multiple crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, meaning there’s demand for the coin.

However, adoption is slow, and competition is strong. While the project is clearly alive and development is ongoing, it’s neither guaranteed nor ruled out that Onyxcoin will regain its former momentum. Its future performance will depend on broader adoption, market conditions, successful upgrades, regulatory developments, and other factors.