Meme coins and AI coins recorded significant losses even though they were popular crypto stories in 2025. RWA comes out as best with 185 percent returns as popular sectors hemorrhage.
The 2025 Crypto Crown was taken by Real World Assets. Meme coins and AI collapsed after a huge buzz on social media.
The 185.8% average returns year-to-date by RWA tokens is a stark contrast to two highly hyped stories that collapsed on investors. RWA was profitable due to the high performers in the industry.
Top performing companies were Keeta Network (1794.9%), Zebec Network (217.3%), and Maple Finance (123%), which made up the top three. Nevertheless, the gains generated by RWA in 2025 were a mere quarter of its 819.5 percent returns in 2024.
When Popularity Doesn’t Equal Profits
Meme coins dropped 31.6 % in 2025. AI tokens lost even more by 50.2 per cent. The lack of connection between hype and performance was a shock to the market.
The biggest meme coins declined by 44.6 to 82.5 percent this year, per CoinGecko research. Ribbita by Virtuals was the only one spared in the bloodbath. The AI tokens were worse off, and they had a loss between 49.8 and 84.3. Exceptions included Alchemist AI and Kite.
The 2025 performance was a startling experience for many observers. The narratives dominated 2024, and AI and memecoins shot up 2,939 and 2,185 per cent., respectively. The theatrical turnaround caused a significant number of investors to wonder about the use of storytelling as an investment method.
In second place, with an 80.3 percent gain, the blockchains of layer 1 procure the prize. Privacy Zcash and Monero coins achieved this success with 691.3 and 143.6 rallies, respectively. Bitcoin Cash, BNB and Tron retained profits to enhance the profitability of the narrative.
Made in USA pocketed lucrative storylines at 30.6⁻ gains. Zcash’s outstanding performance offset moderate losses in other tokens in the category. RWA and Layer 1 were the only stories where two consecutive profitable years had been logged.
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DePIN and Gaming Hit Rock Bottom
Gaming tokens fell by 75.2, and DePIN fell by 76.7. The sectors had the least performance in the major crypto narratives of 2025. The fall ruined investors who got in at high valuations.
The price of gaming tokens fell by 40.1% to 92.5%. DePIN tokens dropped 44.5 per cent to 88 per cent in the same period. None of the big tokens in both sectors was able to deliver good returns.
The Solana ecosystem lost 64.2 percent, even with the largest blockchain mindshare. The JLP of Jupiter surged slightly, and the other Solana tokens declined by 33.5% 83.1%. The popularity of the ecosystem did not translate into price performance.
DeFi had the same number of 34.8% downs as meme coins. DEX tokens reflect the suffering of AI with 55.5 local losses. Layer 2 solutions lost 40.6% in the second consecutive unprofitable year. The study examined performance from January 1 to December 22, 2025.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/ai-and-meme-coins-tank-despite-2025-hype/
