Hyped Token Launches Fall Flat as TGE Loses Mojo Ahead of Airdrop Season

Several recent token launches have seen dramatic drawdowns, bringing to token generation event (TGE) meta into question ahead a number of high profile airdrops.

CAMP, the native token of an AI-focused layer 1 blockchain, is now down by 88% since it was introduced last month, while DoubleZero's 2Z has lost 60% of its value in just eight days.

There were also notable losses for Anoma's XAN, down by 60% in a week. XPL, arguably one of the most hyped projects of the year, slumped below its TGE price on Friday amid a wave of negative sentiment around alleged founding team token sale, a claim the company's founder refuted.

The price action is a stark contrast to last year when projects like HYPE debuted at $6.00 and rose by 400% in the subsequent month.

Why are new tokens failing to impress?

There are several catalysts behind the abject performance of newly-launched tokens; one of which is simply over-farming the hype pre-launch, this means that when a token eventually comes out, users are generally happy to get a return on their investment as opposed to doubling down.

Another reason is tokenomics, XPL's plight has been attributed to $813 million worth of "ecosystem and growth" tokens that were allegedly sold via market makers, causing pressure on the price and outweighing retail investor demand.

Airdrop season doomed to fail?

Over the coming months crypto users are due to receive airdrops from MetaMask, OpenSea and Monad.

These projects are massive in their respective fields; MetaMask is the most commonly used crypto wallet used by millions, while OpenSea transitioned from being the largest non-fungible token (NFT) exchange to becoming an onchain trading platform, and Monad is a hyped layer 1 blockchain that will airdrop its token next week.

But if 2025's new token performance is to repeat itself, these respective juggernauts might struggle to maintain a healthy level of demand that outweighs supply, especially in the case of a project like OpenSea where users who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees in 2021 are waiting for a slither back before presumably cashing out.