Several recent token drops have seen dramatic drawdowns, calling into question the meta of the token generation event (TGE) ahead of a series of high-profile airdrops.
CAMP, the native token of an AI-focused Layer 1 blockchain, is now down 88% since its introduction last month, while DoubleZero’s 2Z has lost 60% of its value in just eight days.
There were also notable losses for Anoma’s XAN, which fell 60% in one week. XPL, arguably one of the most hyped projects of the year, fell below its TGE price on Friday amid a wave of negative sentiment surrounding the founding team’s alleged token sale, a claim the company’s founder refuted.
The price action is in stark contrast to last year, when projects like HYPE debuted at $6.00 and surged 400% in the following month.
Why are the new tokens not impressive?
There are several catalysts behind the abject performance of the newly launched tokens; one of which is simply hyping up the pre-launch hype, this means that when a token finally comes out, users are usually happy to get a return on their investment rather than doubling their investment.
Another reason is tokenomics:
Is the airdrop season doomed?
In the coming months, cryptocurrency users will receive airdrops from MetaMask, OpenSea, and Monad.
These projects are huge in their respective fields; MetaMask is the most used crypto wallet by millions, while OpenSea went from being the largest non-fungible token (NFT) exchange to becoming an on-chain trading platform, and Monad is a hyped layer 1 blockchain launching its token next week.
But if the new 2025 token performance is repeated, these respective giants could struggle to maintain a healthy level of demand that outstrips supply, especially in the case of a project like OpenSea, where users who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees in 2021 are waiting for a pullback before presumably cashing out.
