Cryptocurrency market losers: altcoins that failed to withstand market pressure

From October to December 2025, the cryptocurrency market has shown negative dynamics. Over the last 60 days alone, the total capitalization of digital assets has fallen by more than one-third, from $4.28 trillion to $3.07 trillion.

The leaders of the downturn in the current crypto cycle are formed primarily by altcoins with relatively small market capitalizations, which are most vulnerable amid declining liquidity compared to industry giants such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

1. Story (IP) — down 63%

Topping the list of cryptocurrency losers is the IP token of the Story Protocol project. Moreover, the IP token became an anti-record holder not only in its segment but among all cryptocurrencies in the top 100 by market capitalization.

The IP token reached its all-time high (ATH) at the end of September 2025 at $14.89, after which it has shown predominantly negative dynamics. Relative to the ATH, the price of the IP cryptocurrency has collapsed by more than 86%, or roughly 7 times, and as of December 2025, stands at $2.02, which is only twice as high as the price at the time of listing.

2. Aptos (APT) — down 52%

The second outsider on the list of cryptocurrency losers is APT, the native token of the Aptos blockchain protocol. The Aptos token also became one of the biggest losers in the crypto market among native tokens of their own blockchain networks, following Story Protocol.

Trading in the APT token began back in October 2022, and since then, the altcoin has repeatedly crossed the $15 mark, reaching its ATH in January 2023 at nearly $20. However, since December 2024, the price of the APT token has been steadily declining.

And in December 2025, the APT rate even reached an all-time low at $1.68, which is almost five times lower than the altcoin's price at the time of listing.

Among the reasons why APT joined the list of cryptocurrency losers, experts highlight the following:

• Regular unlocking of more than 11 million tokens creates intense downward pressure on the price.
• A technological factor: the throughput of the Aptos network did not meet user expectations.
• External factors related to tighter regulation in the US, declining demand for Layer-1 (L1) networks, and reduced liquidity in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market.

Despite this, large investors continue to hold APT tokens, as Aptos is one of the key players in the developing RWA sector.

3. Canton (CC) — collapse of 51%

The CC token appeared on exchanges only in November 2025 and is a new asset among the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. However, the token was listed at an unfavorable time, and as a result, the altcoin became one of the cryptocurrency losers.

Despite a sharp price drop — more than twofold since listing — the CC token has secured the 35th place in the overall cryptocurrency ranking by market capitalization, which as of December 2025 amounts to $2.63 billion.

At present, the price of CC continues to fall amid the bearish market, even with institutional support, and is trading at $1.7, which is more than 5.5 times lower than the listing price.

4. Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) — down 50%

PENGU became one of the most hyped meme tokens released in 2024, but as of December 2025, it ranked among the worst-performing cryptocurrencies in its segment.

Within just a few days after listing in December 2024, the price of the PENGU token rose more than 7 times, from $0.0049 to $0.035. A few days later, the PENGU rate reached an all-time high of $0.057. The value of the meme token once again approached its ATH in July 2025, only to decline thereafter. Over the past 60 days, the price of the PENGU meme token has crashed by 50% to $0.01, which is roughly twice as high as its value at the time of listing.

Investors explain the ïàäåíèå of Pudgy Penguins by an overall decline in interest in the token, which led to a capital outflow of more than $6.5 billion, as well as the deterioration of the Solana network's performance, of whose ecosystem PENGU is a part.

The further dynamics of PENGU will depend on the overall situation in the crypto market and the meme-coin sector itself, which is also in decline. According to CoinMarketCap, the market capitalization of meme coins has almost halved over the past 60 days — from $74 billion to $39.8 billion.

5. DoubleZero (2Z) — down 46%

In October 2025, another new token, 2Z, appeared. The altcoin is part of the DoubleZero ecosystem — a decentralized infrastructure that enables blockchains and other distributed systems to exchange data.

However, the overall decline in the crypto market also affected the dynamics of the 2Z token, whose price as of December 2025 has fallen by half relative to the listing price and by more than 6 times from its ATH, reached almost immediately after the exchange listing at $0.75.

Analysts also note the instability of DoubleZero's tokenomics. Despite this, according to optimistic long-term forecasts, the price of the 2Z token could reach $0.32–0.46.