Crypto tokens have struggled in early 2025 as more than one in four of those launched since 2021 failed in the first quarter. CoinGecko’s data platform shows that 1.8 million tokens stopped trading between January and March.
That represents the highest number of token failures recorded in any single quarter since CoinGecko began tracking in 2021.
Rapid Token Creation Meets Harsh Reality
Since 2021, nearly 7 million cryptocurrencies have appeared on CoinGecko’s GeckoTerminal tool. Yet over half of them, about 3.7 million, have already gone quiet.
The token creation boom of 2024 brought more than 3 million new assets, but many turned out to be short-lived. Projects often lacked clear plans, saw small communities, and failed to build lasting interest.
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Political Shifts and Market Turbulence
Crypto markets reacted sharply to political changes this year. After Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, Bitcoin climbed to a fresh high. That peak was fleeting. A sudden downturn followed, dragging many smaller tokens under.
Shaun Paul Lee, a research analyst at CoinGecko, points to this broader market turbulence as a key reason why so many tokens collapsed so quickly.
Platform Funnels and Failure Rates
In its report on April 30, CoinGecko noted that only tokens with at least one recorded trade were counted as failures. They also included Pump.fun tokens that completed the platform’s bonding curve.
Before platforms like Pump.fun expanded access to token creation, failure rates stayed relatively low. From 2021 through 2023, shutdowns made up just 12.6% of all defunct tokens logged over five years.
Speculation and Short Lifespans
Many of the tokens that fizzled out were speculative in nature. Founders rushed to launch new coins without clear road maps or strong backing. The result was a flood of assets that saw minimal use and little community support.
As trades dried up, the tokens swiftly vanished from trading platforms. For investors, the wave of failures highlighted the risks of backing projects with no real substance.
The steep rise in token failures underlines a key lesson for the crypto world. Rapid launches and easy access to creation tools can bring fresh ideas, but they also open the door to fleeting hype.
As markets settle and regulators watch more closely, token projects may need to prove their value before attracting serious support. Without that, many more tokens could face an early exit in the quarters ahead.