The DeFi market has gone through sheer contrasts throughout 2025. Hence, certain crypto narratives witnessed noteworthy profits while others experienced huge losses over the year. As per the data from CoinGecko, the Real-world assets (RWAs) and Layer 1 blockchains became the top profitable crypto narrative with staggering 185.76% and 80.31% average returns year-to-date (YTD). However, DePIN and Gaming saw the biggest losses, declining by 76.74% and 75.16%.

RWAs Narrative Dominates 2025’s Crypto Narratives with 185.75% Gains YTD

Leading 2025’s crypto narratives, the RWA sector posted up to 185.76% gains year-to-date (YTD). The standout performances of this narrative include Keeta Network, Zebec Network, and Maple Finance. Particularly, Keeta Network witnessed 1,794.9% increase YTD while Zebec Network and Maple Finance jumped by 217.3% and 123.0%, respectively. However, irrespective of such remarkable numbers, the profitability of RWAs was just a fraction of the 2024 surge, which hit 819%.

Layer 1 Narrative Records 80.3% Profits YTD

Subsequently, Layer 1 blockchains emerged as the 2nd top narrative in the crypto sector. In this respect, the privacy-centered initiative Zcash surged by 691.3%, and Monero followed it with 143.6% rise. Additionally, Bitcoin Cash, Tron, and BNB contributed further support, assisting the narrative to achieve an 80.3% gain. The respective performance highlights the growing interest in foundational blockchain ecosystems.

Made in USA Emerges as Last among Profitable Narratives of 2025 with 30.6% Returns YTD

Apart from that, the Made in USA narrative took the 3rd position among the top narratives with 30.6% returns YTD. However, only these 3 crypto narratives, including RWA, Layer 1, and Made in USA, posted profits during 2025. On the other hand, irrespective of popularity, meme coins as well as artificial intelligence (AI) tokens could not show any returns. Rather, meme coins witnessed 31.6% plunge while AI tokens lost 50.2% YTD.

DePIN and Gaming Denote Worst-Performing Narratives with -76% and -75% YTD

According to CoinGecko, at the bottom of the list of crypto narratives are DePIN and Gaming. With the worst performance, the Gaming narrative slumped by 76.7% YTD. Coming after that, the DePIN narrative experienced a 75.2% decline. Overall, 2025 presented a significant divergence in the wider crypto performance as profitability stayed concentrated in RWA, Layer, and Made in USA narratives.