While meme coins, AI, DeFi, and DEX narratives have all seen significant declines, RWA has emerged as the standout winner this year.
Meme coins and artificial intelligence (AI) dominate crypto mindshare in 2025 amidst significant interest from investors worldwide. But a new report suggests their popularity didn’t translate into performance.
This could mean that the purely speculative crypto frenzy may be waning, especially as investors become cautious amid the turbulent fourth quarter.
Poor performance of meme coins and AI overall
According to CoinGecko’s latest report, despite ranking as the most followed narrative this year, the average year-to-date losses for meme coins and AI tokens were -31.6% and -50.2%, respectively. Most of the largest meme coins have fallen between 44.6% and 82.5% since the beginning of the year, but Virtuals’ Ribbita stands out as an exception.
A similar pattern played out across AI cryptocurrencies, with only Alchemist AI and Kite avoiding sharp drawdowns, with the rest of the sector falling between 49.8% and 84.3%.
Beyond meme coins and AI, other widely followed narratives also struggled, showing how uneven 2025 was across markets. DeFi recorded an average loss of -34.8%, roughly matching the performance of meme coins. Meanwhile, decentralized exchange (DEX) tokens fell 55.5%, reflecting the decline in AI.
Despite its long-term role in expanding Ethereum and other networks, Layer 2 has disappointed for the second year in a row, posting an average loss of -40.6% year-to-date.
RWA and Layer 1 deliver superior performance
In contrast to these laggards, Real World Assets (RWA) has emerged as the most profitable crypto story in 2025. This cohort has returned an average of 185.8% year-to-date across its largest tokens. This outperformance was primarily driven by Keeta Network’s explosive 1,794.9% rally, along with strong gains in Zebec Network and Maple Finance.
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However, the overall return is still well below last year’s 819.5% surge.
Layer 1 ranked as the second-best performing market with an average gain of 80.3%, supported by massive gains in privacy-focused chains Zcash and Monero, and resilience in Bitcoin Cash, BNB, and Tron. Notably, RWA and Layer 1 were the only companies to be profitable for two consecutive years.
Meanwhile, “Made in USA” sales remained slightly positive at 30.6% year-to-date, primarily as Zcash offset losses elsewhere. At the other end of the spectrum, Gaming and DePIN had the steepest year-to-date drawdowns of 75.2% and 76.7%, while the Solana ecosystem was down 64.2% despite leading in mindshare.
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