How Many Cryptocurrencies Are There? (2026 Figures)
As of mid-2026, roughly 9,000 to 17,000 cryptocurrencies are actively tracked by the major data aggregators -- but more than 20 million tokens have been created since 2021, and over half of them are already dead. The number you cite depends entirely on what you count: coins listed on a reputable tracker, or every token ever minted on a blockchain.
That gap -- thousands of live, tracked assets versus tens of millions of created-and-abandoned tokens -- is the single most important fact about this question, and it is why every source gives a different answer. This page breaks down both numbers, where they come from, and how the count has exploded over the last few years.
There is no central registry of cryptocurrencies, so "how many exist" is really "how many does a given tracker list." Here is where the main sources land in 2026:
| Source | What it counts | Approximate figure |
|---|---|---|
| CoinMarketCap | Actively tracked coins & tokens | ~9,000-10,000 |
| CoinGecko | Actively tracked coins & tokens | ~17,345 |
| CoinGecko (all-time) | Tokens created since mid-2021 | ~20.2 million |
| Statista | Cumulative crypto coins/tokens recorded | Tens of thousands to millions, depending on year |
CoinGecko is tracking roughly 17,345 cryptocurrencies, while CoinMarketCap lists a smaller set in the 9,000-10,000 range because its listing criteria are stricter. Both numbers are a tiny fraction of the total ever created.
The headline "millions of cryptocurrencies" figure comes from counting every token minted on-chain, most of which never had real trading activity. According to CoinGecko's dead-coins research, roughly 20.2 million tokens had been listed on its GeckoTerminal on-chain tracker by 2025, up from about 428,000 in 2021. Price trackers only surface the small slice that clears volume, liquidity, and legitimacy thresholds -- which is the crux of the whole question: "how many cryptocurrencies exist" is really a question about where you draw the line, and every source draws it differently.
So the honest answer is a range:
- Actively tracked / tradable: ~9,000-17,000 (CoinMarketCap to CoinGecko)
- Total created since 2021: ~20 million
- Still alive: less than half of what was created (see below)
Most cryptocurrencies that have ever existed are effectively dead -- abandoned projects, rug pulls, or memecoins that flat-lined within days. CoinGecko found that 53.2% of the ~20.2 million tokens launched since mid-2021 are no longer actively traded. A staggering 11.6 million of those failures happened in 2025 alone, accounting for 86.3% of all token deaths over the five-year window.
The failure rate accelerated sharply once token-creation became frictionless:
| Launch year | Tokens that later died |
|---|---|
| 2021 | ~4,367 projects |
| 2022 | ~1,866 of ~6,300 listed |
| 2024 | ~1.4 million projects |
| 2025 (Q1 alone) | ~1.8 million tokens |
CoinGecko attributes the explosion largely to Pump.fun and similar tools that let anyone mint a token in seconds, flooding the market with low-effort memecoins. Before 2024, cumulative failures numbered in the low six digits; the 2024-2025 memecoin wave added millions.
Part of the confusion is terminology. A coin has its own blockchain (Bitcoin on the Bitcoin network, Ether on Ethereum, SOL on Solana). A token is issued on top of an existing blockchain using a standard like ERC-20 (Ethereum) or SPL (Solana), and does not need its own chain.
Almost all of the tens of millions of "cryptocurrencies" ever created are tokens, not coins. Minting a token costs a few cents and takes seconds, which is why the token count dwarfs the number of independent blockchains -- there are only a few hundred meaningful base-layer coins, versus millions of tokens riding on them.
The two dominant aggregators use different listing bars, which is why their counts differ by roughly 7,000:
- CoinGecko casts a wider net (~17,345 tracked), listing more small-cap and long-tail assets.
- CoinMarketCap is more selective (~9,000-10,000 tracked) and additionally reports over 2 million trading pairs across the coins and exchanges it monitors.
Neither number reflects "how many cryptocurrencies exist" in an absolute sense -- both are curated views of the assets liquid enough to be worth tracking.
The distribution of tokens is lopsided toward a handful of high-throughput chains that make token creation cheap and fast:
- Solana became the epicenter of memecoin issuance in 2024-2025, thanks to sub-cent fees and tools like Pump.fun -- the majority of 2025's token launches (and deaths) happened here. If you want the ownership side of that story, see how many people own Solana.
- Ethereum hosts the largest population of established ERC-20 tokens, including most of the major stablecoins and DeFi assets.
- BNB Chain, Base, Tron, and Polygon each host tens of thousands of additional tokens.
The chain matters for spending, too: a token on Solana settles in seconds for a fraction of a cent, while the same transfer on Ethereum mainnet can cost several dollars in gas.
Roughly 9,000-17,000 are actively tracked, depending on whether you use CoinMarketCap (~9,000-10,000) or CoinGecko (~17,345). If you count every token ever minted, the figure is over 20 million -- but more than half are dead.
According to CoinGecko, 53.2% of the roughly 20.2 million tokens launched between mid-2021 and the end of 2025 are no longer actively traded. About 11.6 million of those deaths occurred in 2025 alone, driven largely by the memecoin flood from tools like Pump.fun.
A coin has its own blockchain (Bitcoin, Ether, SOL), while a token is issued on top of an existing chain using a standard like ERC-20 or SPL. The vast majority of the millions of "cryptocurrencies" ever created are tokens, because minting one is fast and nearly free.
Only a small fraction. The bulk of value is concentrated in the top assets by market capitalization -- Bitcoin alone accounts for well over half of the entire market. Most of the long tail has negligible liquidity or has already failed. It is worth noting that there are now far more tokens in existence than there are people who own crypto -- a sign of how cheap issuance has become, not of genuine demand.
Because there is no official registry. Each tracker sets its own listing criteria, and "created" tokens vastly outnumber "tracked" ones. A responsible answer always states which number you mean: tracked (~9,000-17,000) or ever-created (20 million+).
Whichever of the thousands of cryptocurrencies you hold, the practical question is usually the same: can you actually spend it? A crypto debit card converts your balance to fiat at the point of sale, so you are not limited to the handful of merchants that accept a specific token directly. That is how you spend Bitcoin like cash -- or SOL, USDC, and USDT -- anywhere Visa and Mastercard are accepted. SolCard supports stablecoins across 9+ networks, so the chain your assets live on does not lock you out of everyday spending.
