In a bid to contain Zimbabwe’s escalating economic turmoil, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has sharply devalued its gold-backed currency, the Zig, by over 40% against the U.S. dollar. This drastic move, made on Friday, signals mounting challenges in the country’s efforts to restore financial stability. The new exchange rate sets the Zig at 24 to $1 (or £0.75), according to a statement from the RBZ’s Monetary Policy Committee.
The central bank’s decision, which was reported by Reuters, marks a significant shift in the government’s economic policy. By allowing greater exchange rate flexibility, the RBZ hopes to address “emerging exchange rate risks,” as well as to stabilize inflation and prices in the short term. Yet, this devaluation highlights the ongoing struggle to gain public confidence in the new currency, launched just over six months ago.
A Devalued Dream – The Zig’s Struggles
Although the Zig—short for Zimbabwe Gold—had initially maintained its official value, the situation on the black market paints a different picture. Most Zimbabwean businesses source U.S. dollars from this informal market, where the Zig has lost more than half of its value since its launch. This currency collapse reflects the broader economic crisis, exacerbated by the population’s historical mistrust of the central bank.
Many Zimbabweans have been reluctant to abandon the U.S. dollar, which remains legal tender alongside the Zig. Memories of the 2008 hyperinflation crisis, when the government printed trillion-dollar Zimbabwean banknotes as inflation soared out of control, have left deep scars. Confidence in the local currency, even one backed by gold, remains fragile.
Demand for U.S. Dollars Soars
The Zig’s steep devaluation is largely driven by the increasing demand for U.S. dollars. This pressure intensified following warnings from major retailers that they would be forced to close stores if the exchange rate remained fixed. For Zimbabweans, access to U.S. dollars provides a lifeline amid the country’s ongoing inflation struggles, further complicating efforts to encourage widespread adoption of the Zig.
Despite its gold-backing, the Zig’s volatility on the black market suggests that even tangible assets cannot counter the country’s entrenched economic challenges. The government’s sixth currency in just 25 years, the Zig was intended to stabilize the economy, yet its rapid depreciation indicates that the country’s financial woes are far from over.
The Road Ahead
As the RBZ takes drastic measures to contain the currency crisis, the future of the Zig remains uncertain. The central bank’s efforts to restore economic stability through devaluation could provide short-term relief, but the long-term success of Zimbabwe’s financial recovery hinges on rebuilding public trust.
For now, Zimbabweans are left grappling with yet another devaluation, as the country’s economy remains stuck in a cycle of instability. Whether the Zig can rebound and provide a stable alternative to the U.S. dollar remains to be seen, but the central bank’s latest move is a stark reminder of the difficulties in stabilizing a fragile economy.
As the RBZ continues to adjust its monetary policies, many will be watching closely to see if this latest effort can anchor inflation and prevent further economic deterioration.
Strategy announced Monday its latest purchase of 4,020 Bitcoin, worth $427 million, between May 19 and May 25, 2025.
This acquisition lifts Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to a record 580,250 BTC, valued at $40.61 billion. With this disclosure, Strategy further cements its leadership as the largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder.
Record-Breaking Bitcoin Acquisition
Formerly known as MicroStrategy, Strategy has reinforced its reputation at the forefront of Bitcoin adoption among corporations. Its official statement confirms the purchase of 4,020 additional Bitcoin between May 19 and May 25, 2025.
The total investment of $427 million reflects an average price of $106,237 per Bitcoin. This rapid move increases Strategy’s BTC treasury to 580,250 coins, giving it the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin reserve. That trove now represents nearly 3% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply, giving the company outsized influence on market sentiment.
“Strategy has acquired 4,020 BTC for ~$427.1 million at ~$106,237 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 16.8% YTD 2025. As of 5/25/2025, we hodl 580,250 $BTC acquired for ~$40.61 billion at ~$69,979 per bitcoin,” Saylor posted on X.
Strategy completed its purchase after a period of relative stability for Bitcoin, demonstrating confidence in its long-term value. Notably, the company’s stock price was volatile following the announcement. The MSTR stock was trading at $369 at press time, down 7%.
Strategy used funds from its at-the-market (ATM) equity and preferred stock offerings to finance this acquisition. These methods offer flexible funding and allow the company to raise capital efficiently by issuing new shares at current market prices.
Importantly, this funding mechanism showcases a strategic use of traditional financial tools to support digital investments. Combining equity financing with Bitcoin buying has set a new bar for firms considering similar asset allocations.
With BTC trading near record highs, markets will watch whether the company accelerates issuance to chase its aggressive 2025 yield goal and how that might ripple across BTC and MSTR stocks.
It also appears that following Michael Saylor’s lead, firms across Brazil, the Middle East, Asia, and beyond are increasingly adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset.
Voxies (VOXEL), a little-known gaming token, surged by over 200% within 24 hours on April 20 following a suspected malfunction in Bitget’s trading system.
The unexpected glitch led to an explosive spike in activity, pushing the VOXEL/USDT contract’s trading volume to an eye-watering $12.7 billion. According to Coingecko data, this significantly outpaces Bitcoin’s $4.76 billion volume on the same platform.
The unprecedented spike drew attention across the crypto space, particularly given that VOXEL is a relatively obscure free-to-play blockchain game token with a market cap under $30 million.
According to on-chain analyst Dylan, the Bitget bot repeatedly executed trades within the narrow $0.125 to $0.138 price range. Savvy traders quickly caught on, using just $100 to scalp profits exceeding six figures.
Reports suggest that the glitch allowed some users to walk away with tens or even hundreds of thousands of USDT in a matter of hours.
In response, Bitget’s spokesperson Xie Jiayin confirmed the platform was aware of the irregular activity and has launched an internal investigation. The company also noted that affected accounts may face temporary restrictions, urging users to contact in-app support for further assistance.
“Every platform, at every stage of development, may encounter challenges and uncertainties, yet these are an inevitable part of the journey. Bitget will provide the event details and resolution within 24 hours,” Jiayin added.
Meanwhile, the incident has sparked criticism from market experts and traders, many of whom question Bitget’s internal safeguards and technical maturity.
Several community members have criticized Bitget’s response to the issue. Some have claimed that the exchange’s decision to forcibly settle VOXEL contracts at discounted rates breached user trust. Bitget’s hybrid custody model is also receiving backlash following the incident.
“The platform’s product design reveals concerning flaws: a hybrid custody risk pool exposes users to systemic risks, and unrestricted position sizes open the door to manipulation. If these issues are not addressed, more altcoins could be weaponized against Bitget—potentially making it the next catastrophic failure in the crypto space,” one analyst stated.
Over 50% of all cryptocurrencies ever launched since 2021 are now defunct. An even more alarming trend is emerging in 2025, where the percentage of failed tokens launched this year has reached the same level in just the first five months.
That percentage will naturally rise with more than half of the year left. Representatives from Binance and Dune Analytics told BeInCrypto that these failures are just another reminder of the need to launch viable projects, backed by solid tokenomics and a robust community.
Ghost Tokens Skyrocket
A recent CoinGecko report revealed some jaw-dropping data. Of the approximately 7 million cryptocurrencies listed on GeckoTerminal since 2021, 3.7 million have subsequently died.
Several factors are considered when evaluating whether a coin has reached its end.
“A coin is classified as ‘dead’ when it loses all utility, liquidity, and community engagement. Key indicators include near-zero trading volume, abandoned development (no GitHub commits for 6+ months), and a price drop of 99%+ from its all-time high. Teams often vanish without warning—social media accounts go dormant, domains expire,” Alsie Liu, Content Manager at Dune Analytics, told BeInCrypto.
Half of all tokens launched since 2021 have died. Source: CoinGecko.
A significant 53% of listed cryptocurrencies have failed, with most collapses concentrated in 2024 and 2025. Notably, the over 1.82 million tokens already stopped trading in 2025 significantly outpaced the approximately 1.38 million failures recorded throughout 2024.
With seven months out of the year ahead, this trend of increasing failures in the current year will continue to grow.
CoinGecko specifically suggested a potential link between economic concerns like tariffs and recession fears, noting a surge in meme coin launches after a certain election, with subsequent market volatility likely contributing to their decline.
However, not all responsibility can be placed on a greater economic downturn. Other aspects can contribute to these project failures.
“Common factors include inability to find product market fit leading to negligible interest from users or investors, or project teams that focus too much on short-term speculation with no long-term roadmap, and sometimes abandonment by developers (rug pulls). Broader issues like fraudulent intentions, weak user traction, novelty-driven hype, financial shortfalls, poor execution, strong competition, or security failures also contribute to project failure,” a Binance spokesperson told BeInCrypto.
The rapid rise in ghost tokens also came with the exponential launch of projects en masse, particularly since the start of 2024.
Analyzing the Life-Death Ratio
Last year was novel in its own right following the proliferation of meme coins. This new narrative emerged particularly after the launch of Pump.fun, a Solana platform that allows anyone to launch a token at a minimal cost.
According to CoinGecko data, 3 million new tokens were listed on CoinGecko in 2024 alone. Half of these projects died, but the other half survived. However, the situation in 2025 appears less stable.
The difference between token launches and failures in 2025 is minimal. Source: CoinGecko.
While the number of new token launches remains high, the number of failures is nearly equivalent, with launches only marginally exceeding deaths by about a thousand.
“Ecosystems with low barriers to token creation see the highest number of ghost coins. In general, platforms that make it very easy and cheap to launch new tokens see the most abandoned coins. During this cycle, Solana’s meme coin surge (e.g., via token launchpads like Pump.fun) drove a flood of new tokens, many of which lost user traction and daily activity once initial hype faded,” Binance’s spokesperson explained.
As of March 5, the meme coin market capitalization had sharply decreased to $54 billion, marking a 56.8% drop from its peak of $125 billion on December 5, 2024. This downturn was accompanied by a significant decrease in trading activity, with volumes falling by 26.2% in the preceding month alone.
Certain token categories have been hit harder than others.
Music and Video Tokens Among the Hardest-Hit Categories
A 2024 BitKE report indicated that video and music were prominent categories with many failed cryptocurrency projects, reaching a 75% failure rate. This outsized percentage suggests that niche-focused crypto ventures often face challenges in achieving long-term viability.
“These niches face adoption and utility gaps. Music tokens struggle to compete with Spotify/YouTube, while ‘listen-to-earn’ models often lack demand. As more mainstream celebrities get into the space without knowing much about blockchain technology, tokens have become the new cash-grab business,” Liu explained.
Binance’s spokesperson noted that legal and technical hurdles, such as music licensing and the significant resources needed for video delivery, complicated the scaling of decentralized alternatives.
They further explained that many projects struggled to remain sustainable without substantial user adoption or strong network effects.
“This highlights that a good concept alone is not enough; crypto projects must also compete with entrenched Web2 platforms, navigate complex industry challenges, and deliver real-world utility to succeed. Without aligning with user behavior and market needs, even well-intentioned initiatives risk fading into ghost tokens,” Binance told BeInCrypto.
Despite the discouraging number of failed tokens, this situation offers important insights into building resilient projects that withstand unfavorable market conditions.
What Can We Learn From Catastrophic Token Collapses?
Prospective token creators can learn significant lessons from once-popular projects that ultimately failed. The negative outcomes experienced by these ventures, particularly in severe instances, can motivate the development of new projects responsibly and avoid similar pitfalls.
Binance referred to notorious ghost coin cases BitConnect and OneCoin.
“BitConnect, once a top-10 coin, collapsed in 2018 after being exposed as a Ponzi scheme promising ~1% daily returns. Investors lost nearly $2 billion. OneCoin, raising ~$4 billion, never had a real blockchain and relied on aggressive multi-level marketing before collapsing. Both cases highlight the dangers of projects built on hype, unrealistic promises, and lack of verifiable technology,” Binance’s spokesperson explained.
While concerning, the rising number of ghost coins serves as a crucial reminder that discernible warning signs often precede the downfall of these cryptocurrencies.
These cases underline the necessity of rigorous research, validating underlying principles, and maintaining a cautious perspective, especially when investment gains appear unrealistically high. Prioritizing risk management and sustainable long-term factors should outweigh short-term speculative trading.
Binance particularly highlighted the importance of “Do Your Own Research” (DYOR) when evaluating crypto projects.
“Practically, this means reviewing the whitepaper, assessing whether the project solves a real problem, verifying the team’s credibility, examining tokenomics and supply distribution, and checking community and development activity,” Binance said, adding that “In essence, DYOR is about empowerment and protection. It helps investors identify solid projects and avoid scams or ghost tokens by spotting red flags early. Given how fast crypto markets move, personal due diligence remains essential for navigating the space safely and successfully.”
Ultimately, the prevalence of ghost tokens highlights a critical truth for crypto participants: thorough research and fundamental value are paramount for identifying lasting projects.
