The altcoin market is once again in a slump, what is the way to break the deadlock?

At the beginning of 2025, the cryptocurrency market shows a persistent weak trend. This downturn is reflected not only in the many alts on trading platforms but also in the on-chain tokens that performed well in the fourth quarter of last year, which have not been spared and are facing the dilemma of significant declines.

Data shows that AI-related tokens have seen an astonishing decline in the first three months of this year:

• Virtual down 79.2%
• Ai16z dropped 85.5%
• AIXBT dropped 68%
• Griffain dropped 80.3%
• Buzz dropped 72.4%
• Fartcoin dropped 67.5%
• ARC dropped by 62%
• Swarms dropped 45%

In less than 90 days, the once hot top projects have evaporated 80% of their value. Although it cannot be asserted that this track has failed yet, the loss of investor attention has become an established fact, and attracting attention again may not be a matter of a short time.

Meanwhile, the celebrity coin craze led by a certain politician has also rapidly cooled down. The drop in various celebrity coins since their peak is equally shocking:

• Related coin of a certain political figure: -77.1%
• Certain political figure's spouse-related coin: -91%
• Vine：-92.7%
• jailstool：-93.5%
• Jellyjelly: -98%
• CAR：-98.5%
• Libra: -94.3%

There is a saying in the crypto space: "Invest in new, not old," which means that funds tend to chase the latest concepts. However, compared to AI tokens, the decline in the celebrity coin sector has been even more severe. So, what problems do these two sectors currently face? In the current context of a lack of new concepts, is there still a breakthrough in the market?

Current Dilemma: Concept Hype Prevails, Substantial Application Lacks

The main issue in the AI token sector is that most projects are still in the conceptual stage, lacking practical and easily promotable products. Even when some projects launch usable services, they often struggle to retain users due to complex operations and poor user experience. Worse still, some project teams exaggerate their marketing to meet market expectations, while actual implementations are repeatedly delayed, leading to investors losing patience and funds starting to withdraw.

In terms of celebrity coins, although they initially attracted huge attention, they quickly encountered the issue of "celebrity effect decay." The subsequent involvement of other public figures has struggled to replicate the initial excitement and market response. As the following effect diminishes, the celebrity coin market shows characteristics of a fleeting moment, and investor confidence rapidly wanes.

The fundamental reason these tracks are in turmoil is that most projects remain at the level of conceptual hype, lacking sustainable profit models. Whether it's AI tokens or celebrity coins, their core appeal relies on the rapid influx of short-term funds and popularity, yet they lack the motivation to engage users in the long term. Once the hype subsides, it becomes difficult to maintain prices and attract new capital inflow.

The Way to Break the Deadlock: Finding Real Yield Projects

In the current market environment, standing out is key to discovering projects that have "real yields" and are willing to share them with users. "Real yields" refer not only to short-term gains at the time of listing but also to the ability to continuously generate returns through actual business models and trading behaviors, and to distribute these returns to token holders or ecosystem participants.

A certain decentralized derivatives trading platform is a typical case. The business model of this platform is similar to that of centralized exchanges, with its main revenue coming from contract trading fees. However, unlike traditional platforms, it uses all the fees for repurchasing the platform's tokens. Since trading fees are directly related to trading volume, this mechanism effectively binds the value of the tokens closely to the platform's actual performance.

According to statistics from a certain data platform, the platform accounts for as much as 45% of the 24-hour trading volume in the perpetual contract DEX field, with an average daily trading volume of 3.78 billion USD and daily revenue of approximately 1 million USD. Even during the current market downturn, the platform remains highly active, and its token price has performed strongly in the recent environment where alts have generally declined.

No matter how popular a concept is, it will eventually lose its luster. What can exist in the crypto market for the long term are always those projects that find product-market fit, have high user stickiness, and generate real profits.