Crypto.news Awards 2025 categories, nominees and winners

We’re back for season 2 of the сrypto.news Best Crypto Projects! Our annual awards recognize and reward outstanding projects, both new and established, in the crypto and web3 space. The Crypto.news choice winners were selected by our editors and subject-matter experts after multiple rounds of evaluation and review. 

Best New Memecoin Project

Memecoins are like mushrooms after rain, there’s a new one cropping up every few minutes. But some are undoubtedly better than others. Here are our top picks for Best New Memecoin Projects of 2025, the frontrunners in today’s crypto ecosystem, taking the market by storm and rallying communities by the thousands.

• PENGU
• Official Trump
• Memecore
• Fartcoin
• Pippin

Winner: This year’s Crypto.news Best New Memecoin Project goes to PENGU for bringing the charm of their Penguin NFTs to the real world with plushies and viral TikTok marketing, and then achieving phenomenal success with the PENGU memecoins. Go Penguins!

Best Layer-1 Blockchain Network

Our Best Layer-1 Blockchain award aims to bring attention to innovative Layer-1 protocols building the foundations of a more scalable and efficient blockchain ecosystem. Here are some of the leading blockchains demonstrating strong technology, growing adoption, and clear long-term potential.

• Apertum
• BNB Chain
• Polkadot
• Sui
• Moonbeam

Winner: All the names on our nominees list are impressive in their own right; however, none stand out quite like Apertum. Apertum supports ultra-fast transactions with 0.15–1.50 seconds time-to-finality and processes over 4,500 TPS, outperforming Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, and others. Its deflationary token model burns up to 50% of transaction fees, supporting token scarcity, holder incentives, and long-term sustainable growth. The network is fully EVM-compatible, allowing developers to deploy smart contracts seamlessly without additional coding, while maintaining high scalability. Apertum emphasizes community-driven innovation, secure high-yield infrastructure, and rapid on-chain expansion. With no VC or institutional backing, the project focuses entirely on organic growth.

Best DeFi Platform 

DeFi has changed how the world sees crypto, showcasing the many capabilities of blockchain to the global financial system. Even long-time crypto skeptics like the JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have caved, saying, “I don’t care about Bitcoin but DeFi is real.” Here are our top picks for the best DeFi platforms that stand out for their security, intuitive design, and innovative approach.

• Uniswap
• Aave
• MakerDAO
• CurveFinance
• Lido Finance

Winner: After several rounds of evaluation, we decided to pick Curve Finance as our Best DeFi Platform of the Year for its advancements. The platform reached several notable milestones this year, including the founder putting forward a proposal for a 17.45 million CRV token grant, alongside the protocol exploring expansion efforts and potential AI-driven enhancements.

Best Crypto Exchange

Choosing a crypto exchange is harder than ever, with a multitude of options available today. We make it easier with our nominees. Here are the top exchanges leading the market in security and asset protection, availability and accessibility, fees and trading costs, supported cryptocurrencies, trading products, and standout features and tools.

• BYDFi 
• Binance
• Bybit
• KuCoin
• ChangeNow

Winner: This was a close contest, but we’ve chosen Bybit as our Exchange of the Year for its strong emphasis on regulatory compliance, continued expansion of institutional services through real-world asset (RWA) integration, and its efforts to deepen web3 functionality for a rapidly growing user base.

Best Project with Utility Tokens

Gone are the days when projects could rely on a cute mascot alone. Today’s crypto community demands real utility, even from memecoins. These are our nominees for the best projects with utility tokens that add real value and give users access to meaningful services in the ecosystem.

• Remittix
• Chainlink
• Aptos
• Polygon

Winner: While all the projects on this list are notable in their own right, Chainlink stands out as our Best Project with Utility Tokens this year. In 2025, Chainlink won the SWIFT Hackathon Business Challenge, and its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) was selected by Coinbase as the exclusive bridging solution for all of its wrapped assets: just a few of Chainlink’s many accomplishments this year.

Best Leader in Web3

A leader is someone who marches ahead despite adversities and inspires others to follow, and in crypto this means building trust, driving innovation, and navigating uncertainty with conviction. Here are our top picks for the best leaders in the crypto and web3 space, recognized not for their net worth (or how many times they’ve been to space), but for their leadership spirit, their vision, and their impact on the industry.

• Changpeng Zhao
• Balaji Srinivasan
• Brian Armstrong 
• Anatoly Yakovenko
• Aya Miyaguchi
• Lily Liu

Winner: While our editors debated at length over who our Web3 Leader of 2025 should be, we ultimately chose Changpeng Zhao as our Best Web3 Leader for demonstrating an indomitable spirit in the face of adversity.

Best AI Crypto Project

AI is everywhere, from customer support to content creation. And in crypto, AI plays an even bigger role by merging automation with decentralized systems. Here are our nominees for the most interesting, innovative, and exciting AI crypto projects today.

• Fetch.ai
• Bittensor
• Render 
• SingularityNET 
• Ocean Protocol 

Winner: Our editors have picked Bittensor as the Best AI Crypto Project of 2025. The network managed to implement a major protocol change, among other milestones this year.