MemecoinWhile ‘s and artificial intelligence-themed altcoins dominated the agenda of cryptocurrency investors throughout 2025, the popularity was not reflected in performance. Crypto data and price platform CoinGeckolast published by report It revealed that both narratives suffered steep losses in year-to-date (YTD) returns. As the volatile last quarter of 2025 draws to a close, the increasing cautious attitude has weakened the appetite for areas based on pure speculation. Data shows that although market interest remains high, earnings generation remains elusive for a broad segment in 2025.
A Striking Picture in the Narrative of Memecoin and Artificial Intelligence
According to CoinGecko’s data, memecoins, which are among the most followed narratives in 2025, will have an average of -31.6 percent, artificial intelligence Its altcoins lost an average of -50.2 percent YTD. While most large-scale memecoins are down between 44.6 percent and 82.5 percent over the year, the Virtuals ecosystem Ribbita The only example that stood out against the negative table was Memecoin.
artificial intelligence themed altcoinA similar distribution was observed in . While Alchemist AI and Kite were among the exceptions that were able to avoid sharp declines, losses in the rest of the sector were in the range of 49.8 percent to 84.3 percent. The report emphasized that it is becoming more difficult than ever to translate popular narratives into investor returns in 2025.
The weakness was not limited to memecoin and AI altcoins. While the DeFi narrative was close to the performance of memecoin with an average of -34.8 percent, DEX coins drew a parallel picture with the decline in the artificial intelligence narrative with -55.5 percent. Despite the promise of scaling, Layer 2s disappointed for the second year in a row, recording an average loss of -40.6 percent YTD.
RWA and Layer-1 Gained
In the shadow of negative returns, the most profitable narrative of 2025 is real world assets (RWA). RWA While the largest altcoins in the group gained an average of 185.8 percent YTD, the main driver of performance was Keeta NetworkIt was reflected in the report as the sharp rally of 1,794.9 percent. Zebec Network And Maple Finance also contributed with strong increases. Still, the same report noted that returns remained lower compared to the 819.5 percent jump seen in 2024.
second place Layer-1‘s were included and an average increase of 80.3 percent YTD was recorded. Zcash and Zcash, privacy-focused blockchains moneroSignificant increases in BitcoinCash, BNB And tron This, combined with the relative resistance on the side, supported the narrative to remain upward. According to CoinGecko, RWA and Layer-1s have emerged as the only narratives that have produced positive returns for two consecutive years.
During the same period, the “Made in USA” altcoins narrative remained positive, albeit limited, at 30.6 percent YTD. Zcash Gains on the side offset losses in other areas. Gaming and DePIN were at the bottom of the list. The report shows that these two groups saw the steepest declines, at -75.2 percent and -76.7 percent, respectively. Although the Solana ecosystem was ahead in mindshare, it underperformed with a -64.2 percent YTD decline.
