What Weak 2025 Token Listing Returns Suggest About Buy-and-Hold Investing

Core Insights - In 2025, crypto tokens listed on major exchanges faced significant price declines, raising questions about the effectiveness of traditional buy-and-hold strategies in the current market environment [1] Exchange Performance - Binance listed 100 tokens in 2025, with 93 trading in the red, resulting in a median ROI of 0.22x, indicating substantial value loss for newly listed altcoins [2] - Bybit listed 150 tokens, with 127 experiencing declines and a median ROI of 0.23x, while MEXC led with 878 new tokens, reporting 747 in negative territory and a median ROI of 0.21x [3] - Coinbase had a relatively better performance, listing 111 tokens with 94 trading lower, achieving a median ROI of 0.43x, the highest among major centralized exchanges [3] - Kraken also followed a similar trend, posting a median ROI of 0.30x despite most newly listed tokens finishing in negative territory [4] Market Trends - The weak performance across exchanges was attributed to broader market conditions rather than the specific listing venues, as many tokens were common across multiple platforms [4] - A separate analysis of Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange, showed similar results, indicating that the poor performance was not exclusive to centralized platforms [5] - The overall market saw over 11 million new tokens issued in 2025, many classified as "low-quality," contributing to the weak performance of the buy-and-hold strategy [6] - By January 2026, the total crypto market capitalization was below $3 trillion, lower than at the start of 2025, reflecting a loss of over $1 trillion in value since October 2025 [6]