MYX Finance Emerges as 2025’s Top Crypto Gainer

CoinGecko has identified MYX Finance (MYX) as by far the top-performing cryptocurrency of 2025 so far, posting year-to-date gains of 3,358.15% among large market-cap assets. The BNB Chain–native derivatives protocol launched its token at around $0.097 on May 6, quickly drawing attention across the market.

Airdrops, Perpetuals, and BNB Chain Drive the Rally

According to CoinGecko, MYX’s explosive rise was fueled by strong demand following its airdrop program, combined with renewed interest in perpetual futures trading and growing momentum within the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Controversy Surrounds MYX’s Rapid Price Surge

Despite its success, MYX Finance has not been without controversy. CoinGecko noted that the project faced criticism regarding airdrop allocation and allegations of insider trading when the token surged to an all-time high of $19.03 on September 11.

Price Correction Follows All-Time High

The low-float token has since corrected sharply and was trading below $3.00 at the time of the study. Even after the pullback, MYX remains significantly higher than its launch price, leaving investors closely watching whether the protocol’s fundamentals can justify its earlier price outperformance.

Zcash Becomes the Second-Best Performer of the Year

Zcash (ZEC) has emerged as the second-highest crypto gainer in 2025, recording 573.72% in YTD returns. The rally began in late September amid renewed interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.

Breakout Momentum Pushes ZEC to Multi-Year Highs

ZEC climbed to $120.62 by October 2, reclaiming levels last seen in May 2022. Unlike the broader market’s gradual decline, Zcash’s breakout accelerated sharply, peaking at $698.87 on November 17.

Privacy Coins Benefit From Sector-Wide Revival

Other privacy-focused projects have also benefited from the narrative resurgence. Monero (XMR) has been in an uptrend since mid-August and has posted YTD gains of 115.96%, while Midnight Network (NIGHT), which launched its token on December 9, has risen 58.39% since inception.

Meme Coins Lose Dominance in 2025

CoinGecko noted that while meme coins dominated top gainer rankings in 2024, none have made the list this year. Instead, 2025 has seen a more diversified mix of projects across different narratives.

Prediction Markets, Payments, and SocialFi Gain Ground

Rain Protocol (RAIN) recorded the third-highest YTD gains at 184.83%, followed closely by payments and real-world assets platform Zebec Network (ZBCN) with returns of 164.08%. SocialFi layer-2 Zora (ZORA) gained 138.13%, while OKX’s exchange token OKB rose 115.21% as investors sought alternatives after BNB’s rally.

Alchemist AI Stands Out Among Top Performers

The only meme-adjacent token among 2025’s top gainers is Alchemist AI (ACH). Initially launched via Pump.fun, the project has since positioned itself as an AI-focused crypto application.

ACH Rallies Alongside AI Momentum

As the AI narrative remains the second most popular theme in crypto this year, ACH has gained 89.21% YTD, recovering twice from notable price corrections.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Lag Despite New Highs

In contrast to many top gainers, Bitcoin and Ethereum are ending the year with losses despite reaching new all-time highs earlier in 2025.

BTC and ETH Risk Breaking a Two-Year Winning Streak

Bitcoin is down 7.96% YTD, trading at $86,065 as of December 18 after starting the year at $93,508. Ethereum has fallen even more sharply, posting a 15.25% YTD loss after declining from $3,337 to $2,828. Unless both assets recover in the final weeks of the year, this would mark the end of a two-year streak of positive YTD performance.

CoinGecko Explains Research Methodology

The research analyzed price returns of the 300 largest crypto assets by market capitalization as of December 18, 2025, compared with January 1, 2025, or the earliest available data. CoinGecko clarified that stablecoins, wrapped, pegged, staked, restaked, tokenized, and low-activity assets were excluded from the analysis.