Crypto Market Turmoil: 49.7% of Projects Failed by 2025
1min read In 2025, the cryptocurrency market faced significant turbulence, with nearly half of all cryptocurrencies experiencing trading halts. According to Coingecko's latest report, "Dead Coins: Over 50% of Cryptocurrencies Have Failed," a staggering 1.8 million cryptocurrency projects had failed by March 31, 2025. This figure represents 49.7% of all project closures since 2021, highlighting the volatile and unpredictable nature of the digital asset market.
The rapid increase in failures can be attributed to several factors, including the influx of low-quality meme coins and the ease of token creation facilitated by platforms like Pump.fun. The hype surrounding meme coins and the accessibility of token deployment led to an explosion of new cryptocurrency projects in 2024. However, many of these projects lacked substantial value or long-term development plans, making them prone to failure in the market.
Ask Aime: Which cryptocurrency projects are likely to survive this volatile market?
The failure rate of cryptocurrencies varies significantly depending on the year of their launch. In 2021, the market experienced a 70% failure rate, with 5,724 tokens disappearing. This trend continued into 2022, with over 3,500 projects failing, representing a 60% failure rate. However, the market saw a major decline in failed tokens in 2023, with only 289 projects failing out of 4,000 listed tokens. This reflects a growing trend toward more sustainable projects and a maturing market with a stronger focus on responsibility and utility.
Despite the high failure rate, the crypto market continues to attract new projects, testing their ability to navigate volatility, regulation, and sustainable operation. The growing number of failed tokens has raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of the crypto ecosystem. However, recent projects have shown improved results, suggesting a growing maturity in the market. The rapid increase in token project failures can be attributed to several low-quality meme coins entering the market. Launching platforms like Pump.fun, which simplified the token creation process, led to an explosion of new cryptocurrency projects in 2024. However, the lack of substantial value in other cryptocurrency projects made them easily prone to failure in the market. The rapidly growing number of coin failures during the 2020 to 2021 bull market stemmed from the accessibility of token deployment and the hype surrounding meme coins. Several tokens emerged without authentic utility or plans for long-term development, but they quickly gained popularity before their rapid demise.
