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$BTC? Altcoins? Stablecoins? Utility Tokens? NFTs?
Despite often being brushed off as tokens created “just for fun,” a recent study by ChainPlay revealed that memecoins have outperformed all other crypto market sectors in 2025, proving they are far more than just “joke” coins.
Meme Coins 2025 Performance
According to ChainPlay, memecoins outperformed all other cryptocurrency branches this year, becoming the only category to post positive returns so far in 2025.
As reported by NFTevening, the study stated the meme sector recorded an average profit-and-loss of +33.08% from January to May, standing in sharp contrast to the negative performance of nine other key sectors, including AI, GameFi, Layer 1, Layer 2, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Despite the high failure rate common to meme tokens, the study revealed that 18.82% of memecoin projects achieved profitability, the highest across all sectors except Real World Assets (RWA), which had a lower failure rate but still ended with a -7.95% average return.
By comparison, just 8.69% of AI projects and 6.14% of Layer 2 tokens made profits. This makes memecoins a surprising standout in a tough year for crypto investors.
To get these results from profitability analysis, the study used CoinGecko’s market data across 10 crypto sectors, measuring each token’s performance from January 1 to May 31, 2025. Tokens with no end price were assigned a -100% return, while incomplete data was excluded to maintain accuracy.
Launched Memecoins in 2025
On the other hand, the study also revealed that as of June 11, 2025, nearly 5.9 million new meme tokens were launched on Pump.fun, a more than tenfold increase compared to the 540,000 new tokens recorded across all decentralized exchanges by April 2024, based on CoinGecko data.
An average of 36,405 meme tokens were created daily on Pump.fun in 2025, more than three times the 2024 daily average of 10,417 tokens. Monthly meme token launches consistently surpassed 800,000, with January 2025 alone recording over 1.7 million new tokens.
To produce these results, the study tracked the daily number of tokens launched on Pump.fun from January 1 to June 11, 2025, and compared the figures with CoinGecko’s token creation data from 2024.
What are Memecoins?
Memecoins are cryptocurrencies that were inspired by internet jokes or memes and rose to prominence through strong community backing and viral appeal. Their prices tend to be highly volatile, often influenced by social media trends and endorsements from popular personalities.
Despite the risks, some memecoins have delivered high returns, making them a notable part of the crypto market.
In 2024, memecoins surged by 330%, reaching a total market value of $140 billion. They accounted for 11.21% of the crypto market, excluding $BTC and $ETH, according to data from CEX.IO.
This year, a February study by ChainPlay and Storible found that 78% of crypto investors bought president-endorsed memecoins like $TRUMP, $CAR, and $LIBRA, but 66% lost money due to high volatility and pump-and-dump schemes. $LIBRA had the highest loss rate at 75%, and 21% of first-time buyers exited the crypto market after their experience.
This article is published on BitPinas: More Than Just a Joke: Study Reveals Only Crypto Category Profitable in 2025
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