71.9% of Top 100 Tokens Are Dead: How Long Does a Cryptocurrency Survive?

CryptoRank examined, on Tuesday, August 4, the 1,539 tokens that made it into the Top 100 cryptocurrencies. 71.9% are no longer traded. A second study revisits the Top 100 crypto from July 2021, five years later. The conclusion is clear for those still waiting for the return of their former altcoins.

Former Market Champions Disappear One by One {#h-former-market-champions-disappear-one-by-one}

The Top 100 crypto from July 2021 included 100 projects. Five years later, 41 are still listed, 46 have dropped out of the ranking, and 13 have disappeared.

The 46 delisted tokens show a median decline of 93% in their market capitalization. Theta Network fell from $6.35 billion to $136 million. EOS, now Vaulta, dropped from $3.88 billion to $108 million. Tezos fell from $2.59 billion to $239 million.

Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains account for 65% of these exits. Tezos, EOS, Neo, Zilliqa, Harmony, Fantom. Each promised to dethrone Ethereum.

A new generation of Layer 1 has emerged in the meantime. Sui, Aptos, TON. The candidates from 2021 did not keep up.

EOS illustrates how far this decline goes. The project raised over $4 billion during its ICO, a record at the time. In November 2021, four months after the ranking, Yves La Rose, head of the EOS Network Foundation, addressed the community: << EOS, as it exists, is a failure >>. He spoke of a disastrous investment and blamed Block.one, the historical funder of the project.

At the time of this statement, EOS was still valued at nearly $4 billion. The token continued to be traded for five years, despite this public admission of failure.

The Top 100 Crypto Refreshes Faster Than One Might Think {#h-the-top-100-crypto-refreshes-faster-than-one-might-think}

CryptoRank considers a token dead when major exchanges have delisted it and its daily volume remains below $10,000 for more than 90 days. Of the 1,539 tokens analyzed, 71.9% meet these criteria.

62% disappear in less than 5 years. 84.7% in less than 10 years. And the median lifespan of a token is 2 years and 4 months.

CoinGecko has counted 11.6 million tokens that became inactive in the year 2025 alone.

The graph published by CoinGecko tells the same story: 53.2% of cryptocurrencies listed since 2021 are now inactive. The year 2025 alone accounts for 11.6 million disappearances.

The figures follow the trend of launches: 428,383 projects recorded in 2021, nearly 20.2 million by 2025. Launchpads like Pump.fun have opened the floodgates, and memecoins have done the rest.

These statistics concern the entire market. However, the tokens in the Top 100 operated in a very different environment: high liquidity, presence on major exchanges, and significant media coverage. Despite this, their median lifespan remains limited to 2 years and 4 months.

Why does a token continue to trade after the project's end {#h-why-does-a-token-continue-to-trade-after-the-projects-end}

The failure of a project does not make its token disappear overnight. Trading continues, but with demand gradually dwindling.

Market makers follow the trend. These companies continuously quote a buy price and a sell price, which immobilizes capital on both sides of the market. On a pair that is no longer trading, the cost exceeds the captured fees, and they withdraw their orders.

The order book thins out. Each sale then moves the price further, discouraging subsequent buyers, which further thins the order book. The cycle perpetuates itself.

Exchanges monitor these figures. Binance regularly reassesses the assets it lists based on volume, liquidity, development activity, team engagement, and regulatory compliance. On August 17, 6 tokens leave the platform, including PYR, the token from the gaming platform Vulcan Forged.

Delisting sends holders to smaller exchanges with less depth. The volume ends up below $10,000 per day, and 90 days later, the token enters mortality statistics.

In the meantime, its price remains displayed everywhere. On an order book that has become very illiquid, this price mainly reflects the last transaction made.

Uses eventually replace promises {#h-uses-eventually-replace-promises}

Ethereum, Solana, and TRON are still around. Stablecoins, exchange tokens, Uniswap, Aave, and Maker as well.

These assets remain in daily use. They are used to settle transactions, provide collateral, pay fees, or operate applications that are already widely adopted. Each still responds to a use or a well-identified demand.

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu follow a different logic. Their longevity relies primarily on a very active community, abundant liquidity, and a notoriety that still sustains their activity.

The metaverse, GameFi, NFTs, and Ethereum's competing blockchains dominated discussions in 2021. Five years later, most of the projects that embodied these narratives have left the Top 100.

The number of stablecoins in the Top 100 has increased from 8 to 16 in 5 years. CryptoRank attributes this growth to on-chain settlement, which has become one of the main uses of blockchain.

Hyperliquid tells the same story. The protocol has directly entered the 9th place thanks to an economic activity that is already among the most profitable in the entire crypto ecosystem.

Over the cycles, use cases eventually replace narratives.

When returns no longer depend on the next cycle {#h-quand-le-rendement-ne-depend-plus-du-prochain-cycle}

In the face of this constant rotation, many investors choose to keep part of their portfolio in stablecoins.

Their progress in the Top 100 reflects their growing role in payments and on-chain settlement. For an investor, another question arises: how to put this liquidity to work between two investment opportunities?

DeFi allows stablecoins to work. They can generate a return between two investments, or support an investment strategy aimed at limiting exposure to market volatility.

This is the area where Club 25% operates, a private club of 150 investors who manage their savings in stablecoins via DeFi, with a goal of 15 to 25% per year, without trading, without volatility, dedicating a few hours per quarter.

How it works in practice:

• A public portfolio of $100,000 managed in real-time: all decisions are documented and explained.
• DeFi opportunities analyzed and audited: you follow step-by-step video guides to invest in protocols selected for their robustness.
• Total sovereignty over your funds: you remain in control of your capital, no third party has access to your wallet.

👉 Discover the DeFi opportunities of Club 25% {#h-decouvrir-les-opportunites-defi-du-club-25}

The Top 100 of crypto captures a snapshot of the market, not its future. In 5 years, 59 of the 100 projects present in the July 2021 ranking have already exited.