Crypto tokens explode from 20k in 2022 to 18.9M following launchpad frenzy on Solana, Base, BSC

The number of tradable crypto tokens has gone parabolic since 2022, with CoinMarketCap now tracking roughly 18.9 million digital assets, compared to a little over 20,000 in 2022.In January of that year, roughly 20,000 assets were listed across major trackers. By mid-2025, that universe swelled to an estimated 18.9 million, an astonishing 945x increase in just three and a half years. The surge isn’t evenly distributed, as three high-throughput networks are responsible for about 90% of the new supply: Solana, Base, and BNB, driven by low fees, turnkey launchpads, and a culture of rapid experimentation.The three kingsSolana is the epicenter. Over the past year alone, the chain saw on the order of 18 million new tokens minted as memecoin factories and no-code issuers lowered the barrier to creation to pennies. Pump.fun has produced approximately 11.4 million SPL tokens by late July 2025, according to the Dune dashboard by user oladee, which tracks the app’s on-chain mints. That’s up from roughly 8.7 million in March 2025, adding almost 2.7 million in four months, up by 31%. The count exceeds the combined new token count on Base, BSC, Tron, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Ethereum during the same period. The result is a torrent of micro-cap assets, most launched for fun, virality, or speculation, and many never progressing beyond a few wallets and a shallow liquidity pool.Base has emerged as the fastest follower. In barely a year, developers and creators deployed more than 8.4 million fungible tokens on the network.Creator coin tooling tied to Zora ignited a rapid mint cycle on Coinbase’s L2. A Dune dashboard by user Sealaunch reported over 1.5 million creator coins minted in 2025, as the model spread, with much of this activity centered on Base following its integration into the Base App. In late July, Base briefly outpaced Solana by daily token count as “content coins” turned social posts into micro-tokens at scale. Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which pioneered the cheap-token boom in 2021, continues to significantly contribute to new token launches. BscScan’s token tracker lists nearly 4.7 million BEP-20 token contracts on BNB Chain, the ecosystem that BSC is part of. This highlights its role as a mass-mint venue for fungible assets.While its share of new issuance has faded relative to Solana and Base, BSC remains a go-to venue for fast, low-cost launches.Liquidity per token shrinksThe catch to this Cambrian explosion is liquidity. Capital simply hasn’t kept pace with supply. Average stablecoin liquidity per token has collapsed from around $1.8 million in 2021 to roughly $5,500 in early 2025. In practical terms, most of the 18.9 million tokens are illiquid, thinly traded, and highly susceptible to manipulation. Prices can rocket or crater on a few hundred dollars of flow, and rug-pulls remain a risk wherever low-effort issuance thrives.That imbalance is reshaping market structure. Despite the proliferation of assets, value continues to concentrate in a few hundred names, with Bitcoin’s and Ethereum’s dominance climbing as capital consolidates into proven networks while the long tail languishes. For teams, the sheer existence of a token no longer confers value. Protocols must prove durable demand by showing users, fees, cash flows, or compelling utility to attract liquidity in a saturated field.Networks face their own trade-offs. High throughput and low fees empower permissionless creativity but also invite spam and churn. Mentioned in this articlePosted In: Arbitrum, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Solana, TRON, Analysis, Crypto, Featured, Memecoins, Tokens



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