MEXC said spot trading volume in newly listed tokens rose 65% in January 2026, while the number of active traders increased 19%. The exchange tied that move to stronger capital flows into infrastructure-focused crypto projects, especially AI agents, zero-knowledge networks, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePIN.
According to the company, 176 tokens were listed during the month, helping push trading activity higher across fresh listings. MEXC said the best-performing names posted average peak gains of as much as 2,408%. Meme tokens on Solana still drew heavy attention, with PENGUIN recording a 17,330% rally at its peak, but the report also pointed to steady building activity around Ethereum-linked themes.
Three themes highlighted in the exchange’s market read
MEXC described the market as splitting between short-term speculation and positioning around core technology rails. It singled out three themes: autonomous AI agents operating on-chain, privacy and zero-knowledge infrastructure, and DePIN projects linking crypto networks with physical-world use cases.
The report cited Base-based autonomous agents such as CLAWD, which it said can deploy smart contracts independently. It also mentioned HeyElsa as a product that allows users to trade and manage assets through plain-language conversation. Those examples were used to support the argument that infrastructure narratives are attracting sustained interest beyond headline-driven meme trades.
Launchpad and Trading Pool figures were also released
MEXC also shared internal program data. In its Launchpad program, SKR gained 596% and drew more than $1.1 million in subscriptions. Its new Trading Pool mechanism generated $346 million in trading volume, while participants received an average annual percentage rate of 279%.
The company said it was founded in 2018 and now serves more than 40 million users across 170+ countries. The source material also stated that the piece was sponsored content for informational purposes and did not constitute financial advice.