The crypto market went through a brutal culling in 2025, with over 11.6 million tokens failing in a single year, according to CoinGecko. That staggering figure represents 86.3% of all cryptocurrency failures recorded since 2021, making 2025 the undisputed champion of token mortality.
Between 2021 and 2025, the number of listed crypto projects exploded from 428,383 to nearly 20.2 million. While this reflected easier token creation tools, it also led to severe market saturation. The annual breakdown shows the trend accelerating: from just 2,584 failures in 2021 to 213,075 in 2022, 245,049 in 2023, and 1,382,010 in 2024. Then came 2025, which dwarfed all previous years with 11,564,909 failed tokens. Combined, 2024 and 2025 accounted for over 96% of all crypto token failures since 2021.
CoinGecko's methodology focused exclusively on cryptocurrencies that had recorded at least one trade and were listed on GeckoTerminal before becoming inactive, excluding tokens with zero trading activity.
Q4 2025 marked the breaking point, with 7.7 million token failures—34.9% of all recorded collapses over five years. This surge coincided with the October 10 liquidation cascade, which wiped out $19 billion in leveraged positions within 24 hours, marking the largest single-day deleveraging event in crypto history. The shock exposed vulnerabilities across thinly traded tokens that lacked sufficient liquidity or committed market participants to survive extreme volatility.
The collapse was particularly pronounced within the meme coin sector, which had expanded quickly throughout the year. Easy-to-use launchpads like Pump.fun significantly reduced technical barriers, allowing nearly anyone to launch a token within minutes. While this democratized experimentation, it also flooded the market with low-effort projects lacking long-term viability.
DWF Labs executive Andrei Grachev described the environment as a "crime season," pointing to systemic pressures facing both founders and investors. His comments reflect a broader consolidation where capital is increasingly gravitating toward Bitcoin, established assets, and short-term speculative trades, leaving newer projects struggling to attract sustainable liquidity.
The forces that drove crypto's collapse in 2025 show little sign of reversing. Token creation remains frictionless, retail liquidity is fragmented, and market attention continues to concentrate around Bitcoin and blue-chip assets. With nearly 20.2 million projects listed by the end of 2025, even a modest continuation of launchpad-driven issuance risks pushing failure rates higher in 2026.
Market stress events remain a key vulnerability. The October 10 liquidation cascade demonstrated how quickly systemic shocks can cascade through thinly traded assets. Tokens lacking deep liquidity or committed user bases were disproportionately affected, suggesting similar volatility episodes could trigger additional mass failures.
DWF Labs managing partner Andrei Grachev warned that the current environment is structurally hostile to new projects, describing ongoing "liquidity wars" across crypto markets. As retail capital thins and competition intensifies, newer tokens face rising barriers to survival. Without changes to launch incentives, disclosure standards, or investor education, the market risks repeating the same cycle: rapid issuance, brief speculation, and eventual collapse.
While industry participants argue that this purge may ultimately strengthen crypto by eliminating weak projects, the data suggest the adjustment is far from complete. If token creation continues to outpace liquidity growth, 2026 may see fewer launches, but not necessarily fewer failures.
