Meme cash, AI, DeFi, and DEX narratives all fell sharply, whereas RWA emerged because the standout winner this 12 months.
Meme cash and synthetic intelligence (AI) have been dominating crypto mindshare in 2025, amidst large investor curiosity internationally. However a brand new report means that their recognition did not translate into efficiency.
This might imply that the frenzy for purely speculative crypto could also be subsiding, particularly as traders develop cautious amid a uneven This autumn.
Weak Efficiency Throughout Meme Coin and AI
In response 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. Many of the largest 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 effectively, the place solely Alchemist AI and Kite averted steep drawdowns, whereas the remainder of the sector fell between 49.8% and 84.3%.
Past meme cash and AI, different extensively 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. In the meantime, decentralized alternate (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 positive aspects of 185.8% YTD throughout its largest tokens, and this outperformance was pushed primarily by Keeta Community’s explosive 1,794.9% rally, alongside robust positive aspects from Zebec Community and Maple Finance.
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Nevertheless, 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 positive aspects of 80.3%, and had been supported by outsized rallies in privacy-focused chains Zcash and Monero, in addition to resilience from Bitcoin Money, BNB, and Tron. Notably, RWA and layer 1 had been the one narratives to publish a second consecutive worthwhile 12 months.
In the meantime, the “Made in USA” narrative remained modestly optimistic at 30.6% YTD, largely resulting from Zcash offsetting losses elsewhere. On the reverse 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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