Author: Coingecko

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

Throughout 2025 and in the early months of 2026, the crypto market exhibited extreme price volatility and rapid shifts in market narratives. Despite entering a mature phase with increased institutional participation, certain specific areas, especially DeFi, AI, and privacy coins, continued to show high volatility.

This report examines the performance of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization over two different periods:

• 2025: January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025
• 2026: January 1, 2026, to May 25, 2026

Price changes are calculated using the percentage change between each token's starting price and ending price during the respective periods.

Price change percentage (%) = ((Ending Price - Starting Price) ÷ Starting Price) × 100

Subsequently, each token is ranked according to the magnitude of its price change percentage during each period. To ensure that the analysis reflects market-driven price discovery mechanisms, stablecoins, wrapped assets, and synthetic pegged assets are excluded. All price data is sourced from CoinGecko as of May 25, 2026, and is quoted in USD.

Zcash Leads 2025 Volatility with 812.5% Increase

Zcash (ZEC) emerged as the most volatile asset among the top 100 cryptocurrencies in 2025, with its price soaring from $56.1 on January 1, 2025, to $511.92 on December 31, 2025, marking an increase of 812.5%. Its outstanding performance reflects a resurgence of investor interest in privacy-focused digital assets amid escalating global discussions around financial regulation and transaction privacy. As one of the oldest privacy protocols in the crypto space, Zcash benefited from a renewed recognition of its underlying utility.

The native asset of the WhiteBIT exchange, WhiteBIT Coin (WBT), ranked second, climbing from $24.56 on January 1, 2025, to $56.41 on December 31, 2025, with a gain of 129.6%. The price increase reflects a broad growth in engagement within the exchange ecosystem as centralized trading activities accelerated throughout the year.

Monero (XMR) closely followed, achieving a 124.2% increase, rising from $193.24 to $433.18 during the same period. As the largest privacy-centric cryptocurrency on the market, Monero's performance solidified the strong position of the privacy narrative in 2025. OKB ranked fourth with a 122.9% increase, climbing from $49.07 to $109.35, primarily due to OKX's global expansion and token burn mechanism.

Fetch.ai (FET) ranked fifth, but unlike other tokens on the list, its price fluctuations were primarily driven by a decline. The token's price dropped 84.2% from $1.27 on January 1, 2025, to $0.2 on December 31, 2025, reflecting a general correction in AI-related crypto assets after prior speculation.

This stark contrast highlights a significant characteristic of the market in 2025: while privacy coins and exchange tokens regained momentum, AI-related assets underwent a substantial valuation reset.

Venice Sets the Largest Increase of 2026 So Far

Venice (VVV) established the most dramatic price volatility so far in 2026, surging 1051.2% between January 1, 2026, and May 25, 2026. The token skyrocketed from $1.64 to $18.88 within just five months, becoming the most volatile token year-to-date. This surge is primarily attributed to adjustments in its tokenomics, including reduced token issuance and the introduction of a buyback and burn mechanism. Furthermore, Venice secured a crucial partnership with OpenClaw, appointing Venice AI as its primary model provider. Simultaneously, the growing market demand for privacy-focused and "censorship-free" AI models has further solidified its market position.

SkyAI (SKYAI) ranked second, with its price soaring 837.9% from $0.037 on December 31, 2025, to $0.35 on May 25, 2026. SKYAI capitalized on the trend of the "Model Context Protocol (MCP)." It successfully tested an MCP Hub designed to facilitate AI agent coordination, driving its price up.

Siren (SIREN) ranked third, with an increase of 647.3%, rising from $0.068 to $0.5. The fusion of internet meme culture with AI utility benefited SIREN. Additionally, support from Binance's Alpha platform, including early liquidity incentives and "Alpha Points" missions, significantly boosted trading volume and drew attention to the project.

DeXe (DEXE) ranked fourth, with its price rising 458% from $3.15 to $17.56. It successfully transitioned into the intersection of AI and DAO, adding 18 DAOs in March, which propelled its price to surge between March and April.

Unibase (UB) ranked fifth, with an impressive increase of 377.9% year-to-date, rising from $0.035 to $0.17, primarily due to its positioning as a key "memory layer" for AI agents. The launch of UB perpetual contracts on OKX and the announcement of its agent service marketplace in late April served as major catalysts for its price increase.

Unlike the volatility in 2025, which was dispersed across mature infrastructure tokens, the volatility at the beginning of 2026 is concentrated on emerging, high-beta AI assets. The comparison between the two periods reflects a broader shift in crypto market behavior.

Related Reading: CoinGecko Crypto Perpetual Contract Report: CEX Monthly Trading Volume Drops 34%, How Will the Market Transform?

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