The 10 most loss-making crypto projects of 2025 (and the reasons for their failure)

2025 is expected to be the year of crypto maturity, with key factors such as: more transparent regulations, widespread acceptance from major financial institutions, and infrastructure built for long-term sustainability. In fact, the foundation for all of this has already been laid.

However, the market also experienced a costly lesson: the (narrative), market trust( can collapse quickly when lack of transparency meets real-world valuation mechanisms. Tokens that were launched with maximum media hype, maximum fees, and then revealed to have side agreements, dilution schedules, and hollow promises that have existed from the start.

The connection between the Movement market-maker scandal and the 99% drop in KindlyMD’s market cap was not due to bad luck or the bear market timing. It was the same scenario: selling dreams to retail investors, negotiating different terms with insiders, and letting liquidity vanish when the music stops.

Movement Labs – When the “Governance Stage” Becomes a Crime Scene

In December 2024, Movement Labs promised an Ethereum scaling solution based on Move-VM, with slick marketing and listings on major exchanges.

By mid-2025, the project became a textbook example of how opaque token agreements can destroy credibility faster than any technical failure.

• Movement transferred 66 million MOVE )equivalent to 5% of the total supply, valued at $38 million( to a market maker related to Web3Port via an intermediary.
• Most of these tokens flooded the market immediately, causing MOVE’s price to drop 97% from its December 2024 peak.
• Coinbase delisted MOVE, the founding fund suspended and then fired co-founder Rushi Manche, and hired an external governance audit firm.

Berachain – When “Mercenary Capital” Meets Ambiguous Terms

Berachain launched in 2025 as a popular “DeFi L1 native,” with TVL exceeding $3.2 billion right after launch. This blockchain proposed a “proof of liquidity” mechanism to incentivize vaults on DeFi protocols.

However:

• By the end of the year, TVL was only $177 million, down over 90%.
• The BERA token followed a similar trajectory. Airdrop recipients and yield farmers withdrew when large issuance revealed that most on-chain trading volume came from incentives, not natural growth.
• Leaked documents showed at least one early investor had a side-letter agreement different from the public round, including more favorable liquidity and vesting rights.

Result: BERA dropped 93% from its initial price.

![])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-8cd784ab3e3b35c49461e8c47f4c687e.webp(Total value locked )TVL( of Berachain peaked at over $3.3 billion in early 2025, then plummeted more than 90% to around $176 million by year-end.## Mantra – RWA and Market Manipulation

Mantra leveraged the RWA “managed, anchored in Dubai” story, with the OM token rising from $0.05 to $9.17 in one year.

• Then, a massive sell-off reduced OM by 90%, with Mantra accusing centralized exchanges of manipulating the order book as large derivative positions were liquidated.
• Industry insiders suggest Mantra and market makers exploited validation loopholes to artificially inflate token liquidity.

GameFi – Heavy Narrative Failure

GameFi was the second worst narrative in 2025, down 75.1%, just above DePIN )76.7%E5@.

• Investor interest share dropped from 3.7% (2024) to 1.3% (2025), leaving the top 20 most popular narratives.
• Old tokens like AXS, GALA, SAND remain well below previous cycle peaks, while the 2025 cohort failed to sustain hype from yield farming.
• On-chain analytics and dApps show tokens spiked at launch but quickly collapsed due to low retention and oversupply.

Top crypto assets in the gaming sector by market cap## Pi Network – “Free to mine” is also unsustainable

After opening the Open Mainnet on 02/20/2025:

• PI token surged nearly 200% in a week, reaching $2.98, but then dropped over 80% as more tokens unlocked.
• About 60% of PI remains held by the core team, disappointing the community.
• Despite efforts to revive with Pi Network Ventures ()million( and pivot to gaming $100 FruityPi), the market has spoken: projects “close to success” will collapse when faced with real valuation mechanisms.

Meme coins – TRUMP, MELANIA, LIBRA

• TRUMP memecoin: from under $10 to $70 in 2 days, then down ~70%, ending the year around $5.
• MELANIA: rapid rise, then down >98%.
• LIBRA (Solana): from micro levels to about $5, but founders holding ~70% of supply dumped, causing an ~85% price crash.

All three projects are associated with allegations of fraud and market manipulation.

TRUMP token peaked near $45 in January 2025 before falling to around $5, while MELANIA and LIBRA collapsed close to zero.## Launch Coin → BELIEVE – Rapid Tweet-Style IPO

• PASTERNAK token (founded by Ben Pasternak) increased market cap by over $250 million in a few days thanks to ICM network on X (Twitter).
• By the end of 2025, BELIEVE token remained around $9.5 million, with many other tokens in the ecosystem involved in pump-and-dump schemes.

AI tokens – Hype but lacking real value

• Although AI was the second most popular narrative, AI tokens declined an average of 50% during the year.
• Some tokens lost ~75% of their value, removing about $53 billion from the market.
• Cause: token prices reflected future utility too early, while revenue and user base were insufficient.

Top AI-related crypto assets by market cap## Layer 2 – Theory vs. Reality

• On-chain activity and TVL continue to shift to L2, but most small rollups fail to maintain liquidity.
• Base TVL is $4.5 billion, Arbitrum $2.9 billion, with the rest under $500 million.
• Many L2s saw TVL decline during the year, with governance tokens averaging a 40.6% drop, and many rollups shutting down or merging.

Base leads the Ethereum Layer 2 DeFi space with a total locked value (TVL) of $4.5 billion, followed by Arbitrum with $2.9 billion, while most competitors hold under $500 million.## KindlyMD – Failed Bitcoin Bet

• Merged with Nakamoto Holdings, NAKA stock dropped from $25 to $0.37 by year-end, losing ~99%.
• PIPE stock unlocks allowed early investors to sell off.
• Despite holding 5,398 BTC, the stock still trades below Bitcoin’s balance sheet value, facing delisting risk on Nasdaq.

Lessons Learned

Major loss projects in 2025 share common traits:

• Lack of transparency, opaque.
• Excessive dilution (excessive dilution).
• Mercenary capital (mercenary capital).
• Narrative collapse when retail investors price in real value.

The market punishes projects that prioritize marketing over product-market fit, and founders who treat token launches as liquidity events rather than multi-year commitments.

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