Latest: Memecoins Hit Hardest In Rough Year That Saw 11.6m Tokens Fail

Memecoin launchpads such as pump.fun flooded the market in 2025 with millions of “low effort” coins, leading to a record number of crypto token failures.

Crypto market turbulence decimated memecoins in particular last year, driving the number of crypto project failures to over 11.6 million in 2025, the highest level recorded for a single year.

The fourth quarter of 2025 was among the worst, with 7.7 million tokens listed on GeckoTerminal ceasing active trading during the period, according to a report by CoinGecko research analyst Shaun Paul Lee released on Friday.

Lee said the Oct. 10 market crash, which saw over $19 billion of crypto leverage liquidated in a day, was a key catalyst.

“This sharp decline in token survivability may be linked to the broader market turbulence throughout the year, which particularly affected the memecoin sector,” he added.

The number of failures had skyrocketed from previous years, according to Lee. Over 1.3 million projects listed on GeckoTerminal failed in 2024, while only 2,584 failed in 2021.

Memecoins are among the riskiest bets in crypto, and their success or failure can be an indication of how much risk investors are willing to take.

Another reason for the high level of token failures could also be the sheer volume of coins created in 2025 compared to other years.

GeckoTerminal shows there were 3 million tokens listed at the end of 2024, but 20 million by the end of 2025.

Lee points to the launch of Solana memecoin launchpad pump.fun in January 2024 as a driving force behind the flood of new projects.

Source: CoinTelegraph