Crypto: Capital turns away from tokens in favor of stocks

Blood is being shed in the crypto market right now. Don't worry, no one is physically hurt. But in investors' accounts, the hemorrhage is very real. Tokens launched in 2025 become empty of substance, taking away billions. Meanwhile, a profound change is taking place in the psychology of investors. They are not fleeing crypto. They simply change vehicles. And the new favorite car is now called “stocks”.

The massacre of token launches in chilling figures

Let's start with the statistics that make you dizzy, in addition to the explosion of the tokenized gold market. The Memento Research firm has scrutinized 118 token launches made in 2025. The verdict is clear: 84.7% of them are trading today below their IPO price. Half of these projects lost more than 70% of their initial value.

The general median stands at -71% in total valuation, a level not seen since the darkest hours of previous bear markets.

The most striking observation concerns the fate reserved for the big teams. Twenty-eight projects landed on the market with a valuation exceeding a billion dollars. None of them managed to preserve their course. Their median loss flirts dangerously with -81%.

The most hyped categories, blockchain infrastructure and artificial intelligence, respectively suffered -72% and -82% median decline. Meanwhile, DeFi, a less flashy but more solid sector, limits the damage with “only” -52%.

The lesson is relentless: the higher the initial promise, the more painful the fall becomes for investors.

The rush into crypto stocks explained by the numbers

While the tokens burn at the stake excessive valuations, another universe lights up in the shadows. That of IPOs of crypto companies. The sector's IPOs raised no less than $14.6 billion in 2025, 48 times more than the previous year. Mergers and acquisitions transactions reached 42.5 billion, an absolute record over five years of activity.

Andrei Grachev, the boss of DWF Labs, delivers his analysis bluntly:

If capital simply left crypto, you wouldn't see IPO raisings jump 48x to $14.6 billion, M&As hit a five-year high at over $42.5 billion, and crypto stocks outperform tokens.

Pension funds and institutional endowments cannot technically acquire tokens, but they can freely purchase Coinbase, Circle or Kraken shares. Now, these securities are being snapped up with a valuation premium that is a dream: 7 to 40 times revenue, compared to 2 to 16 times for comparable tokens.

Actions against tokens: the big sorting of 2026 is underway

This redistribution of cards is not limited to a simple flight towards quality. It embodies a wave of industrial consolidation unprecedented in the history of decentralized finance. Coinbase, Kraken and Ripple are grabbing everything that moves in three strategic sectors: trading infrastructures, exchange platforms and services linked to stablecoins.

No less than 96% of the value of mergers and acquisitions is now concentrated on these promising segments. Their objective is clearly stated: to build the super-application that will retain the user in a closed and profitable ecosystem.

Maksym Sakharov, the boss of WeFi, deciphers this major development:

When risk appetite tightens, investors don't stop wanting exposure, they start demanding clearer ownership, clearer disclosure and an enforceable path to rights.s.

Meanwhile, the few tokens that survive this great washout are those which had not promised the moon to their buyers. Launches valued at less than $200 million show 40% positive performance and a median decline limited to -26%. The others, those who rode the hype, are now dying in the ditch of oblivion.

The key indicators of the great shift

• 84.7% of tokens launched in 2025 are today below their introductory price;
• -81% median loss for the 28 projects valued at more than one billion;
• $14.6 billion raised in crypto IPOs, 48 ​​times more than in 2024;
• $42.5 billion in mergers and acquisitions, a five-year record;
• 7 to 40x for stocks versus 2 to 16x for comparable tokens.

So yes, fear dominates conversations in the crypto-sphere. But this concern does not push investors to abandon ship. They are massively diversifying their strategies. They are leaving tokens that are too risky to land in more solid stocks. The change is painful, but it may be building the backbone of the next crypto generation.