AI Tokens and Memecoins Dominate Q1 2025 Crypto Trends: CoinGecko Report

AI Tokens and Memecoins Lead Crypto Narratives in Q1 2025: CoinGecko

In the first quarter of 2025, the cryptocurrency market remained heavily influenced by familiar themes, with artificial intelligence (AI) tokens and memecoins accounting for the majority of investor interest, according to CoinGecko’s latest quarterly research report.

Despite the evolving macroeconomic backdrop and technological advancements in blockchain, few new crypto narratives have taken hold. Instead, speculative interest continues to be centered around trends from previous quarters.

AI tokens, memecoins, were leading crypto narratives in Q1 2025: CoinGecko

AI and Memecoins Command 63% of Market Mindshare

AI tokens led the charge with 35.7% of investor interest, while memecoins followed closely at 27.1%, collectively making up 62.8% of total mindshare among cryptocurrency traders and investors in Q1 2025. Out of the top 20 crypto narratives, six were memecoin-related and five were AI-focused, highlighting the dominance of these two categories.

“Seems like we have yet to see another new narrative emerge and we are still following past quarters’ trends,” said CoinGecko COO Bobby Ong in an April 17 post on X. “I guess we are all tired from the same old trends repeating themselves.”

SOL/USDT, 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Political Memecoins Sparked a Frenzy

Investor enthusiasm for memecoins saw a spike in mid-January, driven by politically themed tokens tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration. His team launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) token on Jan. 18 and the Official Melania (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19 — both on the Solana blockchain.

However, the memecoin mania has raised concerns. Analysts argue that these tokens are diverting capital away from utility-driven projects like Solana (SOL), contributing to SOL’s 48% price drop over the past three months, down from a peak above $270 in January.

Memecoin Sentiment Sours After Libra Scandal

The tone shifted dramatically after the collapse of LIBRA, a memecoin backed by Argentine President Javier Milei. The token lost 94% of its value, wiping out $4 billion in market cap after insiders allegedly pulled over $107 million in liquidity.

Libra token crash. Source: Kobeissi Letter

CoinGecko’s report noted a sharp decline in memecoin activity on Solana’s Pump.fun, a popular token launchpad. The number of new tokens deployed daily fell by 56.3% from January highs to just 31,000 at the end of Q1. The percentage of tokens that "graduated"

— those that reached a higher trading tier — also halved from 1.4% to 0.7%.

Smart Traders Still Capitalizing on Memes

Despite the fallout, memecoins remain a lucrative playground for savvy traders. According to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen, “There was the recent meme surge, and smart money is always happy to capitulate on that.”

Memecoins, he noted, offer speculative upside while being less tied to macroeconomic pressures affecting Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

In one notable case, a trader reportedly turned a $2,000 investment into $43 million trading Pepe (PEPE) tokens — ultimately realizing $10 million in profits despite a 70% price drop from the peak.

Memecoins deployed and graduated on Pump.fun. Source: CoinGecko

Market Still Waiting on the Next Big Trend

For now, the crypto market appears to be in a holding pattern, with familiar narratives repeating themselves. While AI and memecoins continue to capture attention and capital, the sector remains on the lookout for fresh narratives to reignite broad investor enthusiasm.

Until then, the dominance of speculative plays and AI-linked tokens seems likely to persist — with all eyes on what might emerge in the quarters to come.