Since 2021, millions of crypto tokens have failed, with a staggering number of these collapses occurring recently. According to fresh data from the crypto analytics platform GeckoTerminal, nearly half of all token failures—1.8 million—occurred in just the first quarter of 2025. In 2024, another 1.4 million tokens were abandoned, accounting for 37.7% of total failures since 2021. Combined, these two periods represent the vast majority of token wipeouts in the crypto market.
This sharp decline in token survivability appears to coincide with broader market instability. Notably, the downturn followed Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, which marked a significant shift in market sentiment and performance. GeckoTerminal suggests that this political event may have amplified existing volatility in the crypto sector.
At the same time, the number of new crypto projects has exploded. While only around 428,000 tokens were listed on crypto price aggregator platforms in 2021, that figure had ballooned to nearly seven million by 2025. Much of this exponential growth is attributed to the launch of Pump.fun in 2024—a platform that dramatically simplified the token creation process. This ease of entry led to a flood of meme coins and low-effort projects, many of which lacked long-term viability.
Before Pump.fun’s emergence, token failures were relatively limited. Between 2021 and 2023, project collapses remained in the low six-digit range, making up just 12.6% of all token closures to date. This contrast highlights the impact of rapid, unregulated token proliferation on market stability.
GeckoTerminal further clarified that its analysis only includes “dead tokens” that had at least one trade before becoming inactive. This ensures that the data reflects projects that had some level of market activity before fading into obscurity.
Amid this chaos, concerns over market integrity are growing. Arthur Cheong, founder of DeFiance Capital, has raised alarms about widespread price manipulation within the crypto space. In a post on X, he warned that many token projects are now working covertly with market makers to artificially inflate and sustain token prices.
If you want to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.
