CoinGecko: 11.6M crypto tokens failed in 2025 amid memecoin rout
Crypto market turbulence in 2025 led to a record number of token failures, with memecoins bearing the brunt, as more than 11.6 million projects ceased active trading during the year.
The fourth quarter ranked among the worst periods, with 7.7 million tokens listed on GeckoTerminal stopping trading in Q4 2025, according to a report published Friday by CoinGecko research analyst Shaun Paul Lee. Lee attributed the sharp drop in token survivability partly to the Oct. 10 market downturn, when over $19 billion in crypto leverage was liquidated in a single day.
The failure count rose sharply from prior years. Over 1.3 million projects listed on GeckoTerminal failed in 2024, compared with just 2,584 in 2021. Memecoins remain among the riskiest areas of the market and often reflect investors’ risk appetite.
Launchpads drive a surge in token creation
Elevated failure rates also coincided with a jump in token issuance in 2025. GeckoTerminal recorded about 3 million tokens listed at the end of 2024, rising to 20 million by the end of 2025.
Lee cited the January 2024 launch of the Solana memecoin platform pump.fun as a major driver of the influx. The ease of issuing tokens on launchpads fueled a wave of low-effort memecoins entering the market.
Before pump.fun’s debut in 2024, cumulative cryptocurrency failures were in the low six digits. Failures between 2021 and 2023 represented just 3.4% of all cryptocurrency failures over the past five years, Lee noted.
Memecoin market capitalization advances into 2026
Memecoins opened 2026 on strong footing, with market capitalization increasing from $38 billion on Dec. 29 to $47.7 billion by Jan. 5, then easing to around $43.7 billion as of Monday, according to CoinMarketCap.
During the same span, memecoin transaction volumes rose 300%, from $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion. As of Monday, volumes were roughly $3.69 billion, with the metric up more than 34% on the day.
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