Meme coin-led project shakeout accelerates…failed projects in 2025 top 11.6 million

With volatility rising in the cryptoasset (cryptocurrency) market, project failures—led by meme coins—surged to a record high last year, data showed.

According to a report released on the 12th (local time) by CoinGecko research analyst Shaun Paul Lee, the number of failed cryptoasset projects in 2025 exceeded 11.6 million, the highest annual total on record. The report attributed the jump to broad market uncertainty, with the meme coin sector taking a particularly heavy hit.

By quarter, the fourth quarter of 2025 was singled out as the worst period. During that time, around 7.7 million tokens listed on GeckoTerminal effectively exited the market after ceasing active trading. The report said the figure was extraordinary even on a quarterly basis.

Lee pointed to the sharp sell-off on Oct. 10 last year as a key catalyst. More than $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in a single day, sending shockwaves through the market and sharply worsening token survival rates thereafter. He said, "Ongoing market volatility throughout the year had an especially large impact on the meme coin sector."

The scale of project failures also rose sharply compared with the past. About 1.3 million projects failed in 2024, while in 2021 there were only 2,584 failure cases. As the number of projects surged in a short period, a deteriorating market environment also accelerated the pace of attrition.

Market participants are paying attention to the statistics given that meme coins have been used as a gauge of investors’ risk appetite. With meme coins categorized as a quintessential high-risk asset, the large-scale shakeout is seen as a signal that risk-off sentiment has strengthened across the broader crypto market.