The total number of unique cryptocurrency tokens and coins listed on CoinMarketCap is nearing the 11 million mark and currently stands at over 10.99 million different digital assets.
The dramatic surge in newly issued tokens during 2024 and early 2025 was primarily driven by memecoins launched on the Solana network.
Some analysts argue that memecoins have siphoned mindshare from tech altcoins and removed the speculative premium once enjoyed by the sector.
This flood of new coins has raised concern among traders and industry analysts about the corrosive impact of millions of new tokens competing for limited mindshare in an already saturated market.
Related: Brian Armstrong says Coinbase needs to ‘rethink’ its token listing process
Too many tokens on the market?
Market analyst Ali Martinez recently predicted that the number of tokens competing for limited capital and investor attention would prevent altcoin season — a sustained market rally in altcoins — from happening.
Martinez estimates there are over 36 million altcoins in existence, compared to less than 3,000 during the 2018 cycle and less than 500 altcoins during 2013-2014.
“With such massive supply, the market has changed significantly,” the analyst wrote on social media.
The deluge of new currencies prompted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to reconsider the exchange’s listing process for new assets.
“We need to rethink our listing process at Coinbase given there are 1 million tokens a week being created now and growing,” the CEO wrote on Jan. 25.
“Evaluating each one by one is no longer feasible,” Armstrong continued while urging that financial regulators should allow exchanges to shift to a more expedited token listing process.
Dan Novaes, the co-founder of EARN’M — a loyalty platform that rewards users for screen time — recently told Cointelegraph that 2025 will be the year of consolidation in the crypto industry and markets.
The executive said that over-tokenization is currently plaguing the industry and forecasted project mergers and token consolidation as development teams combine resources to foster growth.
Novaes added that consolidation is a positive sign for crypto that shows the sector is maturing — much like the consolidation wave that hit mobile phone applications after the initial explosion of mobile apps between 2008-2010.
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