Over Half of Crypto Tokens Launched Since 2021 Have Failed, CoinGecko Reports

The cryptocurrency industry is facing an unprecedented wave of token failures, with over 3.7 million tokens launched since 2021 now considered defunct

The cryptocurrency industry is facing an unprecedented wave of token failures, with over 3.7 million tokens launched since 2021 now considered defunct, according to a new report by crypto data aggregator CoinGecko. The research highlights a striking attrition rate and a growing disconnect between token creation and long-term viability.

The first quarter of 2025 alone saw 1.8 million tokens fail, marking the highest number of token collapses recorded in a single quarter. This staggering figure accounts for nearly a quarter of all tokens launched since 2021, and roughly half of all token failures to date.

CoinGecko has been tracking nearly 7 million tokens since 2021 through its GeckoTerminal platform. According to the April 30 report by CoinGecko analyst Shaun Paul Lee, the recent spike in token failures can be attributed to broader market volatility and the increasing ease of token creation, particularly through platforms like Pump.fun, which streamlines the process of deploying new tokens.

“Alarmingly, the first quarter of 2025 alone saw the collapse of 1.8 million tokens — the highest number of failures recorded in a single year,” Lee said.

This current wave of token deaths follows a brief surge in the market earlier this year, when Bitcoin (BTC) reached an all-time high of over $104,000 shortly after President Donald Trump’s second inauguration in January. However, that rally was short-lived as macroeconomic uncertainty and regulatory tensions sparked a broader downturn in both crypto and traditional markets by March.

The Pump.fun platform, which launched in January 2024, has made it simpler than ever for individuals to create and list their own tokens, leading to a significant increase in the number of tokens being launched. While this provides greater accessibility, it has also resulted in a flood of low-effort projects, particularly in the memecoin category.

According to CoinGecko’s data, nearly 3 million tokens were launched in 2024 alone, a substantial increase from the 835,000 tokens created in 2023. This surge in token creation was largely driven by Pump.fun activity.

Despite the vast number of tokens being launched, the success rate remains abysmally low, with about 98% of tokens failing to gain meaningful traction or volume. The platform’s best-performing week occurred in November 2024, when only 1.67% of tokens “graduated” to external trading platforms.

CoinGecko’s data from the past five years shows that cryptocurrency failure rates were significantly lower prior to 2024. From 2021 to 2023, token failures accounted for just 12.6% of all cryptocurrency collapses.

In contrast, 2024 and early 2025 alone now represent nearly 87% of all token failures during that same period — a stark indicator of how the token landscape has changed.

“Before the rise of platforms like Pump.fun, crypto failures were largely in the six-digit range,” Lee said.

CoinGecko co-founder Bobby Ong noted in a March 6 report that investor enthusiasm for memecoins has waned, particularly after high-profile failures such as the Libra (LIBRA) token. This cooling trend follows a volatile start to 2025, which saw a brief spike in activity after the launch of Trump’s memecoin on January 18, but was quickly undercut by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, including Trump’s tariff threats in March.