What are the best cryptocurrency projects to invest into in 2025? New trends like AI agents are joining memecoins, NFTs and real-world assets (RWAs) in one of the largest hype cycles in years, while more established cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin look forward to a more comprehensive regulatory environment. But how can you make the most of it?

This article will take you through some of the hottest trends of the year, make sure you have everything you need to get the best trade prices and access new tokens, and help you avoid losing money. With over 9 million tokens to choose from (up from 5 million at the start of 2024 - over 10,000 new tokens a day!), you can count on Matcha for a successful 2025.

See today's trending tokens on Matcha.

Top trends in crypto 2025

Cryptocurrencies are entering an important stage. For the first time ever, there is talk about a US government Bitcoin reserve, while the SEC is bringing in more crypto-friendly leadership. This overall positive stance from the US government could mean a broad and rapid shift in sentiment among investors and policymakers. 

Meanwhile, some of the trends of late 2024 have continued into the new year, with AI Agents outpacing memecoins to become the dominant narrative, while other more niche asset classes have also grown in strength. That leads to the all-important question of what are the best plays for this year? Let’s look at each category and see how they’re shaping up in 2025. 

TL;DR

• Crypto is betting big on alignment with AI.
• Memecoins are tapering, but still very relevant.
• Top cryptocurrencies are holding steady while circling ATHs.
• Chains are approaching critical mass with new contenders accumulating TVL.

AI tokens

Artificial intelligence is disrupting virtually every sector. Crypto is especially well-aligned with AI as it enables an AI Agent economy, where bots can pay for services, earn profits and make financial decisions autonomously. This has led to many exciting new experiments that have captured not only imagination, but also a large amount of speculation and value. 

Some of the biggest projects to emerge in this sector are Virtuals, AI16z, and Clanker. While there are hundreds of AI crypto projects which may be worthy of attention, these have been among the more visible early movers.  

In 2025, AI is developing across the following categories:

• Launchpads that allow users to create tokens, like Clanker.
• Marketplaces for monetizing agents and investing in them, like Virtuals. 
• Frameworks that support AI agent development, like Eliza which is most notable for ai16z.
• Standalone transactional or analytical agents used by individuals or organizations.

Virtuals

Virtuals is an AI agent launchpad that lets users deploy AI avatars with specific use cases that other site users can then buy a tokenized share in. Owning these tokens may entitle the holder perks like the ability to access analytics, as is the case for aixbt, or interact with the agent for trading advice or other novelty. Virtuals agents have seen growing appeal since the end of 2024 and dominated the Popular tokens list on Matcha. Search for ‘by Virtuals’ to browse a list of Virtuals agents and swap without added fees.

Check out the Virtuals token page on Matcha to get started.

Clanker

Clanker is an agent that creates ERC-20 tokens in response to simple chat prompts on Farcaster. Launched at the peak of the memecoin cycle, Clanker has facilitated the creation of tens of thousands of tokens and inspired another launchpad, clank.fun. Try it for yourself:

• Open Warpcast.
• Create a new cast tagging @clanker, with a name and image for your token.
• Clanker will respond with a link to your newly created token on clanker.world.
• Trade it directly through Matcha's inbuilt app or paste the token address in the Matcha search bar.

Find Clanker and trade any tokens it creates within seconds on Matcha 

AI16z and Eliza

AI16z is a DAO on Solana built around the open-source AI framework Eliza. It is an experiment that takes inspiration from Andreessen Horowitz and is focused on integrating AI into venture capital-esque investment strategies, managed by an Eliza-based agent Marc AIndreesen. Eliza itself allows these agents to leverage various LLMs and users can create agents with little technical experience using pre-built agent models. 

Trending memecoins in 2025

While AI tokens have become the dominant narrative, memecoins continue to thrive in 2025. In fact, AI agents that create memecoins have helped accelerate memecoin production by making it easier than ever for users to create their own tokens. 

This increased production has in turn resulted in lower demand for newer memecoins, at least relative to the number of tokens out there, but more famous memes remain popular. Projects like Shiba Inu and Pepe continue to attract speculative investors, circulating alongside AI memecoins like Fartcoin and SPX6900 as a common entry point for newcomers. In 2025, established memecoins and their newer AI-memecoin hybrids will continue to attract interest and build communities.

Top cryptocurrencies in 2025

Taking a high level view of the cryptocurrencies in 2025 by market cap, little has changed since last year. That said, the year has only begun and legislative changes in the USA and the nascent AI trend may lead to some surprises. One notable theme has been a resurgence of older projects, with the likes of Ripple and Hedera revisiting all-time highs, which may be the start of a broader trend.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin remains the most influential cryptocurrency with the largest mindshare and first-mover status. Talk of a strategic Bitcoin reserve at the national level lends significant weight to Bitcoin’s use case as a store of value and hedge against inflation.

Late 2024 brought a wave of new forms of wrapped Bitcoin - Bitcoin in the form of ERC-20 tokens -  and it will be interesting to see how these new tokens find traction in 2025. Coinbase’s cbBTC, Kraken’s kBTC, and others such as FBTC will be in competition for WBTC market share of over 130,000 Bitcoin. With Coinbase recently announcing Bitcoin-backed loans facilitated by cbBTC, the fight for market share is already producing encouraging results. Meanwhile, analysts predict Bitcoin will continue to make new all-time highs, supported by institutional adoption through last year’s crypto ETFs.

Ethereum

Ethereum continues to sit comfortably at second place in terms of market cap, while also attracting the largest number of developers by a large margin. Supported by a growing layer-2 ecosystem and an ambitious roadmap, the Ethereum network will continue to sit at the forefront of innovation even as other L1s gain momentum. The network’s transition to proof-of-stake and the rise of Layer 2 solutions have significantly reduced transaction costs and increased scalability. These advancements make Ethereum a key platform for DeFi, gaming, and NFT ecosystems.

Solana

Solana’s impressive rebound from its low point in the summer of 2023 saw it skyrocket to a top-5 spot in terms of market cap in 2025. Memecoin mania and a range of boundary-pushing apps has made Solana a household name with a strong community and ambitions to dethrone Ethereum as the top smart contract L1. There’s little doubt that 2025 will give rise to many more sleek and addictive Solana-based experiences to bring that closer to reality. 

Stablecoins

The top two dollar stablecoins are USDT (Tether) and USDC, with Tether’s market cap around 3 times larger. These continue to coexist, with USDC growing in popularity through platforms like Coinbase, especially in the USA thanks to its focus on compliance, while Tether remains the favorite in other jurisdictions. 

In January 2025, Tether announced a new base of operations in the sovereign crypto hub of El Salvador, marking an interesting new phase in the token’s long and occasionally dramatic history. Meanwhile, USDC’s Circle made its first steps into digitizing other national currencies with EURC in 2024, and could seek to expand such efforts in the coming year.

Could 2025 be the year of RWAs and DePIN tokens?

Real-world asset (RWA) tokens and Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) are two areas in which crypto has been gradually capturing mindshare.

RWA tokens are focused on tokenizing assets such as real estate, commodities, physical collectibles, and even government bonds. As these platforms develop in 2025, they may give rise to new ways to access traditionally exclusive investments and unlock liquidity in previously illiquid markets.

DePIN has also begun to take hold as a potentially transformative application of crypto. These networks aim to enable decentralized management and monetization of physical infrastructure, from mobile networks and computing power through to energy grids and transportation. With proof-of-concept projects like Helium, Filecoin, Render Network and more already established in the space, there could be a new wave of DePIN projects taking off this year.

NFT trends in 2025

As AI dominates and degens pivot from memecoins to agents, some NFT projects of previous cycles have started to thaw from a long bearish winter. Although Punks still claim the top of the list, Azuki and Pudgy Penguins are among the few projects that beat the bear, flippering Punks in terms of trade volumes, though not in terms of market cap. Some of the major trends in NFTs for 2025 include: 

• NFTs launching ERC20 tokens and fractionalizing.
• Gaming NFTs are back for round 2.
• Marketplaces become more competitive.
• Experimental NFTs start to spread to new chains.

NFT coins

Bored Ape Yacht Club’s ApeCoin (APE) launched in 2022 to mixed reception, with uses including DAO governance and redemption for events. Several NFT projects have since followed in their footsteps, albeit in different ways. 

Pudgy Penguins’ PENGU token launched on Solana in early 2025 with large airdrops to NFT holders and strategic allocations to the broader crypto ecosystem who could qualify simply for having transacted onchain. With the Penguins’ native chain Abstract due to launch its mainnet soon, Pengu’s full utility is yet to be realized.

Another approach to NFT coins has been fractionalization. In the second half of 2024, Nouns DAO voted to launch NOUNS token as a way to onboard more users to the community. Accumulating 1 million NOUNS entitles the holder to swap the token for a Noun NFT, making it easier to DCA your way into the community.

Gaming NFTs

One of the core use cases of non-fungible tokens has long been gaming marketplaces, where players can trade tokenized items for cryptocurrency. Successful games that leverage this model have been few and far between, and even for those that have seen success, it has been short lived. In 2024, Fortnite creators Epic games launched Off the Grid, which attracted over 7 million users and included optional NFT mechanics, while Sony’s Soneium L2 was also launched to integrate top-shelf titles with blockchains. As we head into 2025, it’s possible that more game studios will finally capitalize on microtransactions and we’ll see more NFTs in game environments.

NFT marketplaces

While OpenSea dominated the 2021 NFT cycle, it has experienced a slow bleed ever since, with market share going to newer platforms including Blur, Rarible, LooksRare, and more. With an expanded suite of features such as NFT loans, rarity filters and more, these platforms could help fuel a resurgence in NFT trading, while an acquisition of OpenSea could see it revived and return to the top spot.

Experimental NFTs

Beyond the established ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards, a new standard ERC-404 briefly stirred discussion in 2024, followed by the launch of DN-404 as a response to the fact that ERC-404 was not in fact an official ERC. While the hype quickly faded, other networks including BSC and Injective have launched equivalent standards that combine fungible ERC-20 tokens with non-fungible ERC-721 tokens. It is yet to be seen if these types of hybrid NFTs will see further development in the coming year. 

Crypto network trends 2025

The number of Layer-1 and Layer-2 blockchains continued to expand last year, with a few notable changes at the top of the TVL leaderboards. Base and Solana both had record-setting years taking them to the top spots, while other new projects including Scroll, Mantle, Mode, and Linea competed for mindshare. In 2025, it seems that Solana and Base are set to hold their top spots alongside Arbitrum and BNB Chain, while Fantom’s relaunch as Sonic has built significant hype on the timeline. Pudgy Penguin’s Abstract chain is also expected to draw some buzz. 

Base

One of the fastest-growing networks ever, Base saw unstoppable growth in 2024 as it reached over 1 million active addresses and $14 Billion in bridged TVL. Incubated by Coinbase, Base has delivered on promises as it scaled to over 20 megagas per second of throughput, and has found popularity on decentralized social network Farcaster and in memecoin circles. In 2025, Base has committed to further increase users, developers and transaction handling in an effort to become the most used Layer-2 solution.

Solana

Rebounding from a lowpoint in 2023, Solana quickly became the most popular memecoin network in 2024 and kickstarted 2025 with token launches by the US president. While Solana holds a strong lead in terms of usage numbers, network stability continues to be an issue and other chains have been learning from its wins. In 2025, Solana is bound to grow extensively but will likely face competition from Ethereum and L2 developers following in its wake.

Arbitrum

Arbitrum has long been the dominant L2 in terms of volume, but has lost market share to Base and other rollups. Despite this, the launch of Arbitrum Stylus, which allows developers to create smart contracts in languages other than Solidity, may help it reclaim the top spot through onboarding non-native developers to Web3.

Ethereum 

Ethereum’s roadmap continues to target scaling both at the base layer and through Layer-2 solutions. Multiple upgrades are being acted on that will lead to faster block times, MEV reduction, and changes to staking, supporting Based rollups and the Beam Chain consensus layer rollouts expected in the coming years. In the short term, Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade will roll out in 2025 with changes to the consensus and execution layers, to optimize data storage, increase staking balance limits, and reduce network load.

Trade across 12 chains on Matcha! 

Trade onchain in 2025

If you want to invest in crypto in 2025, you should make sure you’re properly equipped. To stay ahead of the curve and find the newest tokens, you’ll want to trade onchain using a DEX like Matcha, from a self-custody wallet that only you own the keys to. With cross-chain swaps and zero added fees on millions of pairs, you can stay on top of all the best cryptocurrencies in one place.

With Matcha you will find tokens within seconds of launch and without giving control of your funds to an exchange. While exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and more require you to deposit assets into their custody, and only let you access a tiny fraction of the tokens that exist, Matcha never makes you give up custody, and lets you trade brand new tokens immediately.

Trade crypto like a pro using smart contracts to complete trades automatically without ever losing control of your assets. 10,000 new tokens are added to Matcha every day, so you’ll always be first to find trending tokens. And best of all, Matcha lets you buy tokens with no added fees - try Matcha now!