Author: Stacy Muur
Compiled by: CryptoLeo
Original title: What are the characteristics and commonalities of the tokens that performed well after TGE in 2025?
Last week, I translated a research post from Solus Group titled " Over 80% of New Tokens Peak After TGE: The Root Cause and Solution to the Web3 False Boom ," which analyzed the situation of 113 tokens after TGE in 2025. The vast majority of these tokens peaked after TGE, with their prices starting to fall the day after listing. However, they all had conditions such as high fundraising, community support, and exchange listing.
Today's article comes from crypto researcher Stacy Muur, who compiled statistics on several tokens that saw significant price increases in 2025 compared to TGE and analyzed the advantages/conditions these projects possessed. In contrast, the previous article was more of a data-driven statistical result, while this article focuses more on the projects themselves. In short, in today's overly homogenized and expanding crypto market, project tokens need to meet several conditions to survive/survive. Odaily has translated it as follows:
If you've been keen on trading TGE tokens in 2025, the result is clear: tokens are hot in the first week after listing, then the hype gradually fades, and eventually, the consensus is that "the offering price is the peak." Most newly listed tokens perform poorly, or even plummet, because the market consistently treats token economics and liquidity as fundamentals.
Nevertheless, a few tokens maintained price increases relative to TGE in 2025. These increases were not "a rebound after a price crash" or "buying at the market low," but rather showed signs of genuine buying support.
Here is my list of the tokens that will see real growth in TGE in 2025: ASTER, FOLKS, AVICI, and SENTIS (and some tokens that barely made the cut, such as IRYS/FHE/CORN). They don't all look exactly alike, but they all share certain characteristics.
The best-performing tokens on TGE in 2025
Aster is a prime example. On its first day of launch, ASTER had everything a project needed: listing on major exchanges, deep liquidity, and the widely accepted narrative of "Perp DEX." The story circulating throughout the year was essentially: "A Binance-backed Perp DEX with privacy features."
ASTER's price action is quite controversial (you could call it ZK-related, CZ shadow play, or simply a better execution strategy). Nevertheless, it remains one of the few projects that didn't see an "immediate sell-off" during TGE.
FOLKS stands out: it's a lending token, and in a year of "terrible market conditions," it was seen as Alpha. The formula: "Binance and Kraken have shown support from day one, cross-chain pools are constantly growing, and there haven't been any massive unlocks." This last point is crucial. Its performance was good until the token unlock on December 15th.
AVICI differs from the previous two. AVICI is included not because of its cutting-edge technology, but because it offers the clearest narrative for CT: "fair release, a truly practical product." It doesn't emphasize token economics, but rather use cases: "a decent neobank app, Visa card, real spending." In a market saturated with intrinsic "utility," AVICI is refreshing, breaking free from conventional thinking while remaining realistic. AVICI may well be one of the best TGE tokens of the year.
When a token rises for some reason, its price tends to be more stable.
Currently, SENTIS is the strongest performing token after TGE. Its supporting factors are simple and clear: the AI Agent narrative + continuous incentive distribution + exchange listing. In CT, the dominant framework remains consistent: "AI Agent is the next DeFi automation layer," providing traders with a simple mental model as an anchor.
Mechanistically, SENTIS does not rely on a one-off launch surge. The token's continuous distribution mechanism (tasks/retrodrops/participation rewards) maintains stable user engagement, which often translates into sustained spot demand as participants prepare for future distributions and ecosystem milestones. This dynamic can even support the price before more meaningful on-chain adoption occurs.
"Barely passing" tokens
IRYS and FHE belong to the "AI Infrastructure & Privacy Deals" sector: both have benefited from the AI boom, maintained above their initial range, and both have kept sufficient liquidity to avoid a price crash. These projects can survive if they can translate their narratives into on-chain usability; narrative alone is not enough.
Then there's CORN. CORN isn't very volatile and is relatively stable compared to similar products, but it's more like a "structured product." In 2025, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Survival becomes crucial when the market "punishes" overexpansion.
What characteristics do the top-performing tokens of 2025 possess?
After removing narrative and atmosphere, some clear structural patterns emerge:
1. Token distribution is more important than hype.
The strongest performing projects at TGE avoided significant internal liquidity. AVICI (0% team ownership), SENTIS (based on activity emissions).
Lesson learned: When a project is launched, who holds the tokens is more important than who invests privately.
2. A reasonable launch valuation is better than the perfect timing of token issuance.
Many high-performing tokens are not launched during the peak of market hype, but rather when their valuations are reasonable, allowing the market to readjust their valuations.
AVICI launched a working product with an FDV of approximately $3.5 million, the potential benefits of which are asymmetrical to the FDV.
Lesson learned: Tokens that rise through "effort" outperform those that start with high valuations.
3. Project usage (or credible recent usage) is reflected in the price.
Aster's Perp trading volume, Folks' lending volume, and Avici's credit card spending are not just promises in white papers, but observable signals.
Sentis started early, but it also links token issuance to on-chain activity, creating a feedback loop between usage and price.
Lesson learned: The market is currently lacking patience; practicality > vision.
4. Unlock Structure > Unlock Size
The linearity and transparency of token unlocking are important, as this ensures that the dilution effect is absorbed by the market. For example, SENTIS releases tokens gradually through a participation mechanism.
Elsewhere, it is not token dilution itself that destroys user confidence, but rather the riskier Cliff-style unlocking.
Lesson learned: Predictable token unlocks are tolerable, but unexpected unlocks are not.
5. Stock exchange listing is necessary, but not enough.
Almost every token has decent exchange listings, but that alone doesn't determine anything. Listings amplify the results: they help strong tokens rise faster, while weak tokens are sold off more quickly. Even without Binance listings, AVICI tokens didn't perform that badly.
Lesson learned: Exchange liquidity is an accelerator, not a foundation.
Key points
Overall, the situation with TGE tokens in 2025 marks a shift.
The market is no longer rewarding "potential," but has begun to reward "structure":
- Healthy circulation
- Fair token distribution
-Reliable adoption
-Controlled unlocking mechanism
The "rising tokens" of 2025 are not perfect projects; they are simply built to survive after launch. If 2024 focused on narrative, then 2025 is about token design under pressure. This is an experience that most projects have yet to learn during their TGE.
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