Meme Coins and AI Post Negative Returns Despite Leading Crypto Narratives in 2025
Meme cash and synthetic intelligence (AI) have been dominating crypto mindshare in 2025, amidst huge investor curiosity internationally. But a brand new report means that their recognition did not translate into efficiency.
This may imply that the frenzy for purely speculative crypto could also be subsiding, particularly as buyers develop cautious amid a uneven This autumn.
Weak Performance Across Meme Coin and AI
According to CoinGecko’s newest report, regardless of rating as essentially the most adopted narratives this 12 months, meme cash and AI tokens delivered common year-to-date losses of -31.6% and -50.2%, respectively. Most of the most important meme cash declined between 44.6% and 82.5% YTD, with Ribbita by Virtuals standing out because the lone exception.
An identical sample performed out throughout AI crypto as nicely, the place solely Alchemist AI and Kite prevented steep drawdowns, whereas the remainder of the sector fell between 49.8% and 84.3%.
Beyond meme cash and AI, different broadly adopted narratives additionally struggled, which was indicative of how uneven 2025 has been throughout the market. DeFi posted common losses of -34.8%, and roughly matched meme coin efficiency. Meanwhile, decentralized trade (DEX) tokens declined 55.5% and intently mirrored the AI narrative’s downturn.
Layer 2s continued to disappoint for a second straight 12 months, after recording common losses of -40.6% YTD, regardless of their long-term function in scaling Ethereum and different networks.
RWA and Layer 1 Outperform
In distinction to those laggards, real-world assets (RWA) emerged as essentially the most worthwhile crypto narrative of 2025. This cohort delivered common features of 185.8% YTD throughout its largest tokens, and this outperformance was pushed primarily by Keeta Network’s explosive 1,794.9% rally, alongside sturdy features from Zebec Network and Maple Finance.
However, general returns had been nonetheless far beneath final 12 months’s 819.5% surge.
Layer 1s ranked because the second-best-performing narrative with common features of 80.3%, and had been supported by outsized rallies in privacy-focused chains Zcash and Monero, in addition to resilience from Bitcoin Cash, BNB, and Tron. Notably, RWA and layer 1 had been the one narratives to publish a second consecutive worthwhile 12 months.
Meanwhile, the “Made in USA” narrative remained modestly constructive at 30.6% YTD, largely on account of Zcash offsetting losses elsewhere. At the alternative finish of the spectrum, Gaming and DePIN recorded the steepest drawdowns of 75.2% and 76.7% YTD, whereas the Solana ecosystem fell 64.2% regardless of main in mindshare.
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