Half of the cryptocurrencies tracked by data aggregator CoinGecko have failed, with 2025 proving to be a particularly disastrous year. What can we take away from this analysis?
CoinGecko claims that half of all cryptocurrencies are already dead
The aggregator CoinGecko conducted an analysis of cryptocurrencies launched since 2021. It tallied tokens that are no longer actively traded, grouping them by the year of their last active trade. Only tokens that recorded at least one transaction before becoming inactive were included. Additionally, regarding Pump.fun tokens, only those that left the launchpad and were listed on a DEX were included in the study.
The result is clear: more than half of the tokens launched since 2021 have died, amounting to 13.4 million of them. Furthermore, 2025 was a disastrous year: it saw the failure of 11.6 million tokens, representing 86.7% of all failures:
An acceleration in token ‘deaths’ during 2025
Why was 2025 such a disastrous year?
The CoinGecko report aligns with a recent report from Memento Research, which indicates that the vast majority of cryptocurrencies launched in 2025 saw their prices collapse. According to the data aggregator, the reasons are linked to volatility throughout the year:
This sharp decline in token survival rates could be linked to broader market turbulence throughout the year, which particularly affected the memecoin sector. […] The fourth quarter of 2025 alone saw the collapse of 7.7 million tokens, representing 34.9% of all recorded project failures.
The report indicates that the failures followed the “liquidation cascade” that occurred on October 10, 2025. On that day, $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours.
These failures also come amid a wave of new token launches. In 2025, over 20 million tokens were listed on CoinGecko… Compared to just 428,000 in 2021. This demonstrates the considerable enthusiasm that drove the sector to the record prices of 2025, with memecoins exploding in number.
It is also an indication that the overheating has subsided, and that we may have entered a prolonged consolidation phase. 2026 could then be the year of moderation for memecoins.
