Nearly half of all cryptocurrencies are at historic lows

The prices of many cryptocurrencies are at their lowest levels on record. Experts attribute this not only to general market pessimism

Prices for more than 40% of altcoins have hit all-time lows or are near record lows, according to analysts at CryptoQuant. This figure exceeds the level seen during the previous bear market in 2022, when it stood at around 38%. Experts attributed this situation to the huge number of new assets, as well as issues with the economic models of tokens launched as far back as 2024 and 2025.

Nearly half of the largest altcoins (cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin) in the CoinMarketCap top 100 have barely recovered from their all-time lows: they have shown gains of less than 100%. However, more than a quarter of the projects that have maintained growth of over 1,000% from their lows were launched before 2023.

CryptoQuant cited the unprecedented number of new assets as one of the reasons for this trend. Analysts noted that a total of over 47 million cryptocurrencies have been created, of which 22 million are on the Solana blockchain, over 18 million on Base, and 4 million on the BNB Smart Chain.

The analytical note states that “such a massive creation of coins directly leads to the dilution of liquidity, making altcoins increasingly vulnerable. The market is unable to absorb such a huge number of new offerings, which explains the record-breaking lag of altcoins behind Bitcoin.”

Darius Mukhtarzadeh, an analyst at the asset management firm 21Shares, raised the same topic but from a different angle at the EthCC conference, stating that the key problem with altcoins dates back to 2024–2025. At that time, most tokens were launched using a model with a low circulating supply and a high fully diluted valuation (FDV). The scheme works as follows: initially, a small circulating supply drives up the price, then a large number of tokens are gradually unlocked, creating selling pressure on the price.

As a solution for new projects in 2026, the analyst suggested increasing the initial circulating supply to 20% to improve pricing and mitigate the negative impact of subsequent unlocking. He noted that projects need to have a product that the market understands, as well as sound economic and business models, before launching their token. Mukhtarzade added that projects must also have value return mechanisms for token holders (e.g., buybacks or token burns).

Data from other analysts has also described the state of the altcoin market as extremely negative at various times. For example, in late 2025, experts at Memento Research confirmed this same view. Analysts examined 118 token launches (Token Generation Events, TGEs) since the beginning of 2025 and recorded massive declines. According to their data, 84.7% of assets were trading below their initial valuation. Two-thirds of the tokens in the sample lost more than 50% of their value, and for 38%, the current market capitalization is 70–90% lower than the initial valuation.

If we look at launches since the beginning of this year, the statistical picture has not changed significantly. According to Cryptorank, the total number of listings on the ten largest exchanges was 532, of which only 126 (23.7%) rose in price after being listed. Meanwhile, the prices of 406 tokens (76.3%) were lower than at the start of trading.

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