DeFi Dominates, Memecoins Plummet: What the Data Reveals About Crypto in 2025

January 2025: Top 100 Cryptocurrencies Performance Summary

Average Gain: -5.95% | Higher: 34 | Lower: 65 | Unchanged: 1

January saw similar patterns that were exhibited in December and November. Specifically real use cases are outperforming fluff, for example Memecoin have significantly underperformed for three months, while DeFi has outperformed for the past two months. Very strong in January were exchange tokens

Like December, the January Timeliness Rankings were notably accurate:

• Crypto projects with a Very Bullish (1) Timeliness ranking achieved an average gain of 13.5% in January. Since we started the Timeliness rankings in July 2023, they have consistently outperformed, with Very Bullish rankings exceeding the average cryptocurrency performance by 4x.
• The Timeliness Change Factors detailed in the “Jan 1 – Ranking Changes” report proved highly predictive. For reference, here are the key factors:

1. Improvements in the Platform and DeFi sectors.
2. A slowdown in Memecoins.

Leading DeFi and Platform performers in January included: Chainlink +24%, Lido DAO +24%, Solana +21%, Ondo +11% and Aave +7%

The Memecoins continue to struggle: ai16z -61%, Popcat -57%, dogwifhat -38%, Mogcoin -36%, Brett -30%, PEPE -30%, Floki Inu -24%, Bonk -16%, Shiba Inu -10%. Dogecoin was the only top Memecoin higher in January +3%.  This is on top of the December losses (from the prior monthly report: Memecoins struggled in December: DOGE: -25%, SHIBA: -32%, PEPE: -5%, BONK: -35%, WIF: -42%, FLOKI: -29%, BRETT: -49%, POPCAT: -45%, MOG: -20%. These nine Memecoins averaged a significant loss of 31% for the month.)

New January Trends:

1. Strength with many exchange tokens: Gate Token +44%, KuCoin +32%, Jupiter +27%, WhiteBit Token +14%, Leo Token +11%, OKB +9%.
2. THORChain, Liquidation fear detailed in the THORChain research report, was down 52%.
3. The DeepSeek threat, this impacted multiple stocks including Nvidia and impacted AI cryptocurrencies, which included: Virtuals -51%, ASA -20%, Render -14%, Near Protocol -8%.

Crypto projects with real-world use cases are increasingly outperforming speculative investments, signaling a shift in market priorities toward sustainability and utility.

See the "Ranking Changes - February 1" in our Reseach Reports library for the most recent rankings.

Disclaimer

Quantify Crypto is an informational website that provides market data, technical analytics and links to news and commentary sources. Information published on Quantify Crypto platform should not be taken as investment advice in any way.

Quantify Crypto is not an investment adviser and you agree to not site the Quantify Crypto platform or content as the reason or cause for making any trading decisions. Quantify Crypto is not accountable, directly, or indirectly, for any damage or loss incurred, alleged or otherwise, in connection to the use or reliance of any content you read on the site.

You agree not to consider the information on Quantify Crypto platform as a solicitation to invest in any cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, or other financial instruments.