2025 TGE Year-End Review: What did the tokens that haven't "regressed to their original form" do right?

Writing by: Stacy Muur

Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow

If you participated in the 2025 token generation event (TGE) trading, you might already be familiar with this default script: a lively first week, followed by a slow decline, and finally having to accept the fact that “the issue price is the highest point.”

Most newly launched tokens not only perform poorly but sometimes crash outright because the market finally begins to treat tokenomics and liquidity as fundamentals rather than optional add-ons.

Nevertheless, a few tokens achieved significant growth by the end of 2025 compared to their TGE prices. These tokens’ rises are not fleeting nor solely due to buying at extreme lows, but rather indicate genuine market demand.

Below are the tokens I summarized as performing strongly in 2025: $ASTER, $FOLKS, $AVICI, $RAIN, $TAKE , and $SENTIS (along with some “barely staying afloat” tokens like $IRYS, $FHE , and $CORN). While their performances vary, they share some similarities.

2025 Winners

@Aster_DEX ($ASTER) is one of the most typical success stories, achieving all the project’s dream goals on the first day: broad exchange coverage, deep liquidity, and a “DeFi perpetual contract” narrative that traders truly understand and endorse. The core story throughout the year can be summarized as: “A Binance-supported perpetual contract trading platform with privacy features.”

Although $ASTER ’s price movement sparked some controversy (which you can attribute to zero-knowledge proof themes, CZ’s behind-the-scenes operations, or simply “better execution”), it remains one of the few tokens that are not suitable for “immediate sell-off” after TGE.

@FolksFinance ($FOLKS): Boredom Can Also Be a Winner

$FOLKS is a unique lending token that proved its value through “boredom” this year, and “boredom” became the winning secret. The success formula is: “Listing on Binance and Kraken on the first day, expanding cross-chain liquidity pools, and no obvious unlock cliff.” Especially the last point—“no unlock cliff”—is more important than most are willing to admit.

Everything seemed smooth sailing… until the unlock period on December 15th arrived.

@AviciMoney ($AVICI): Breaking Rules with “Simple Narrative”

$AVICI is a particularly special case. Its success is not due to the most complex technology but because it provided the clearest narrative for crypto Twitter (CT): “A fair launch project with a real product.”

The most frequently mentioned aspect is not the tokenomics but real use cases: “A genuinely operational new digital banking app supporting Visa cards and real consumption scenarios.” In a market filled with intrinsic “utility,” $AVICI ’s selling point is refreshing—detaching from on-chain virtual narratives and bringing tangible real-world applications.

Undoubtedly, this might be one of the best TGEs of the year.

When tokens rise “for a reason,” they tend to move steadily forward

In the post-cycle performance of 2025, the strongest reactive winners are @Sentism_ai ($SENTIS). Its layout is straightforward: AI smart agent narrative + continuous incentive distribution + broad exchange support. On crypto Twitter, the mainstream view has been consistent: “AI smart agents are the next-generation DeFi automation layer.” This clear narrative provides traders with a simple mental model.

Mechanically, $SENTIS did not rely on a one-time hype wave. Its ongoing token distribution mechanisms (task rewards, retroactive airdrops, participation incentives) maintained user activity. This dynamic often translates into sustained spot demand, as participants plan for future allocations and ecosystem milestones. Such mechanisms can even support prices before actual on-chain usage becomes apparent.

@overtake_world($TAKE): “Web2 Distribution + Web3 Infrastructure” in the Gaming Market

$TAKE continued a similar success template but packaged it as a gaming trading platform. The overarching narrative is “Web2 distribution capabilities combined with Web3 technology support.”

Its advantage lies in clarity—players trade assets, $TAKE is a fee token, and staking and revenue-sharing mechanisms provide incentives for holders. When people talk about “Real Yield,” they usually mean token issuance disguised as APY, but $TAKE ’s logic is closer to “transaction fees → buyback → stakers.” Even if some question this model, the market still recognizes its development direction.

@Rain__Protocol ($RAIN): Event-Driven Repricing Model

$RAIN is a more typical case of event-driven revaluation rather than “fundamentals victory.”

Its main rally came from a simple, clear message: a company listed on Nasdaq plans to allocate nine-figure funds into treasury strategies based on $RAIN . Such news quickly shifts market positioning—liquidity providers adjust spreads, trend traders flock in, and cautious funds rapidly flow back in because the story is straightforward enough.

While this does not directly prove $RAIN ’s long-term product-market fit or eliminate execution risks, it explains why $RAIN ’s trading performance differs from typical small-cap TGE tokens: its buy-side is not solely driven by retail reflexivity but by a seemingly “institutionalized” narrative attracting sustained attention and larger capital.

“Respectable but not top-tier” tokens

@irys_xyz ($IRYS) and @mindnetwork_xyz ($FHE): These two projects belong to the “AI infrastructure and privacy arbitrage” track, benefiting from the AI hype, maintaining prices above initial ranges, and keeping enough liquidity to avoid becoming “dead tokens.” If they can turn hot words into actual on-chain usage, they may succeed—because narratives alone cannot sustain long-term.

@use_corn ($CORN): Although not explosive, it performs more stably than peers, resembling a “structured product.” In the overly expansive market of 2025, stability itself is a signal.

@LoadedLions_CDC $CORN $LION(: Demonstrated the importance of distribution and ecosystem appeal. Although it did not dominate popular narratives of 2025 (such as AI, perpetual contracts, or points), it also did not completely collapse. The risk is that if GameFi tokens’ usage cannot break beyond their core community, they may fall into a “permanent discount” dilemma.

Common traits of winners

After stripping away narratives and emotions, some structural patterns emerge.

Distribution is more important than hype

The most successful tokens avoided heavy internal liquidity sell pressure at TGE.

For example: $AVICI (team holding 0%), $SENTIS (activity-based token release), $TAKE (community and user incentives).

Insight: The holder structure at issuance is more important than the background of private investors.

Reasonable initial valuation beats perfect timing

Many high-performing tokens did not launch during the market’s hottest moments but chose reasonable initial valuations, allowing the market to reassess their value later.

For example: ) was issued at about $3.5 million FDV (fully diluted valuation) with a usable product, showing asymmetric growth potential.

Insight: Tokens that can “earn” high valuations tend to perform better than those with initially high valuations.

Actual usage (or short-term visible usage) drives prices higher

The perpetual contract trading volume of ASTER, lending expansion of FOLKS, $LION ’s credit card spending, and $AVICI ’s market trading volume—these are not just promises on whitepapers but observable real signals.

Even early-stage @SENTIS@ links token issuance to on-chain activity, maintaining market interest through feedback loops between usage and price.

Insight: Today’s market has no patience for visions—actual usage > beautiful visions.

Unlock structure > unlock scale

RAIN’s token supply is large, but its unlocks are linear and transparent, so dilution effects are priced in. SENTIS releases tokens gradually through participation, and $AVICI ties issuance to growth.

In other projects, what truly destroys market confidence is not dilution itself but uncertain, cliff-like unlock patterns.

Insight: Predictable dilution is tolerable; sudden dilution is unacceptable to the market.

Exchange listings are necessary but not decisive

Almost all successful tokens have good exchange channels, but simply listing on exchanges does not determine success.

The role of exchange listing is to amplify results: it can help strong tokens accelerate upward, but also cause weak tokens to fall faster. Even without Binance listing, $TAKE ’s success was not prevented.

Insight: Liquidity is an accelerator, not the foundation.

Core Summary

2025 subtly marks a market shift.

The market no longer pays for potential but begins rewarding structured design:

• Reasonable circulating supply
• Fair distribution mechanisms
• Trustworthy real-world use cases
• Controllable unlock patterns

The “heroes” of 2025 are not perfect projects; they are simply those capable of surviving under issuance pressure.

If 2024’s focus was on narratives, then 2025’s core is on token design under stress testing.

And this is precisely the lesson most new TGE projects have yet to learn.