Coingecko Survey: Who is Actually Buying AI Tokens?

Author: Yuqian Lim

Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow

How popular will crypto AI applications be in 2025?

In a survey conducted this year, 59.3% of participants in the crypto industry (nearly three-fifths) consider themselves to be "early adopters" of crypto AI. An additional 34.7% of participants classify themselves as "mainstream users" of crypto AI applications, while the remaining 6.1% are the "skeptics" with the lowest willingness to adopt crypto AI.

Compared to the bell curve distribution typically followed by technological applications, the proportion of "early adopters" of crypto AI is unusually high. This phenomenon may be related to the self-selection bias of participants who already have an interest in crypto AI, but it also reflects that the application of crypto AI is still primarily dominated by technology enthusiasts and has not yet truly achieved mainstream adoption within the crypto industry.

Among these "pioneering adopters", 26.6% of participants define themselves as "innovators" (i.e., tech enthusiasts eager to chase new technological narratives), while 32.7% identify as trend-sensitive "early adopters". The larger proportion of "early adopters" may reflect the latest changes in industry perception, as the cryptocurrency sector gradually views crypto AI as a key area with potential, rather than merely a hype hotspot.

At the same time, 22.8% of participants in the cryptocurrency industry identify themselves as the "early majority" of cryptocurrency AI applications, which is nearly double the 11.9% who define themselves as the "late majority."

This suggests that the main challenge for crypto AI today is how to drive adoption by a mainstream population that is pragmatic and more risk-averse. In order to appeal to the "early majority" of users, crypto AI projects may need to clearly demonstrate their ability to solve real-world problems or create value for users.

In the end, only 6.1% of participants classified themselves as "Laggards," who are skeptical and resistant to change, which corresponds to the tail end of a typical bell curve distribution. These "Laggards" may include realists who are only interested in profiting from crypto AI, AI critics, and cautious users who are waiting for the technology to mature.

More cryptocurrency newcomers have polarized attitudes towards crypto AI applications.

It is noteworthy that among participants experiencing the market cycle for the first time, 31.5% define themselves as "innovators" in crypto AI applications, while 7.4% consider themselves "laggards."

Both ratios are higher than those of participants who experienced the market cycle for the second time (19.9% are "innovators" and 4.3% are "laggards") and seasoned users (participants with three or more market cycles, 24.4% are "innovators" and 5.3% are "laggards").

This suggests that crypto newcomers may have a stronger and more polarized view of the crypto AI narrative, especially since some new users may have been attracted to the crypto space by the recent crypto AI craze.

On the other hand, the distribution of attitudes towards crypto AI applications among participants who have experienced the second market cycle and experienced users is quite similar. The only difference is that participants in the second market cycle have a slightly higher proportion in the "early majority" group, while experienced users have a higher proportion in the "innovators" group.

2025 Crypto AI Application Curve

The interest or application attitude of the crypto market towards crypto AI is distributed as follows:

Methodology

This study is based on an anonymous CoinGecko crypto x AI survey conducted from February 20 to March 10, 2025, collecting feedback from 2,632 participants in the crypto industry. The survey results are for reference only.

Among the respondents, 51% define themselves as long-term asset holders in crypto investment, 26% as short-term asset traders, 10% as developers engaged in construction work, and 13% as passive observers. In terms of participants' qualifications in the crypto field, 53% are newcomers experiencing the market cycle for the first time (0 to 3 years), 34% are users experiencing the market cycle for the second time (4 to 7 years), and the rest are experienced users with 8 years or more of experience. Geographically, 93% of respondents are from Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa, while the rest are located in Oceania or South America.

This research is for illustration and reference purposes only and does not constitute any financial advice. Please be sure to conduct your own research and act with caution when investing in any cryptocurrency or financial assets.

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