What Are AI Tokens and Why Did the Sector Collapse $100 Billion in December?

AI tokens represent a category of cryptocurrencies designed to power decentralized artificial intelligence networks and services. These digital assets have become increasingly popular as the crypto industry explores AI integration. However, the market tells a different story in 2025.

The December Bloodbath: AI Token Market Suffers Historic Losses

Recent market data reveals that the AI-focused cryptocurrency sector experienced a devastating downturn in December 2025, wiping out approximately $100 billion in total market value. This represent the most severe monthly decline in the sector’s short history, with the losses intensifying particularly in the final two months of the year.

The correction process accelerated sharply as we moved toward year-end. November saw $40 billion in market value evaporate, but December proved far worse, with another $100 billion vanishing from the sector. When combined, these two months accounted for nearly two-thirds of the AI token market’s total losses for the year.

Year-to-Date Disaster: 75% Sector-Wide Decline

Looking at the bigger picture, the AI token market has been decimated throughout 2025. The sector’s cumulative decline of 75% year-to-date demonstrates the breadth and severity of the sell-off, affecting virtually every major project in this space.

Eight of the ten largest AI tokens by market capitalization fell more than 70% over the twelve-month period. This wasn’t a case of a few weak projects underperforming—the damage was systemic.

Specific Casualties: Top AI Projects Face Extreme Losses

Several marquee AI token projects suffered particularly steep declines:

• Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI): Down -97.54% year-to-date, representing nearly a complete wipeout for investors who held from the start of 2025
• The Graph (GRT): Declined -83.39%, marking a severe value destruction for the indexing protocol’s native token
• Render Network (RENDER): Fell -73.17%, showing that even some of the larger AI-adjacent projects weren’t spared from the downturn

These figures underscore how indiscriminate the sector-wide correction has been, affecting both established players and newer entrants equally.

What This Means for the AI Token Category

The December collapse raises fundamental questions about the viability of AI tokens as an asset class. Whether this represents a temporary correction or a longer-term structural decline remains unclear, but the magnitude of losses suggests the sector faces significant headwinds in the near term.