In January 2026, mounting macroeconomic uncertainty and tightening market liquidity pushed major crypto assets into a period of volatility and decline, significantly weakening overall risk appetite. Against the backdrop of this challenging downturn, a critical question emerged for both trading platforms and investors alike: Is it still possible to identify rising assets?
Guided by longtermism and professional asset selection, HTX moved swiftly to respond to real market demand while rigorously executing its “selective listing” strategy. Across multiple sectors, including memecoins, AI, privacy, public blockchains, and DeFi, the platform identified high-quality projects with genuine market attention, strong community consensus, and compelling phase-specific narratives. Platform data for January shows that several assets delivered impressive gains despite the broader market slump, successfully capturing Alpha against the trend.
A Bear Market Test: “List What the Market Is Excited About”
A market downturn does not mean opportunities disappear; rather, it means selection becomes exponentially more difficult. As Justin Sun, Advisor to HTX, has noted, “List assets that are gaining traction. List what the market is excited about.”
In January, HTX maintained its commitment to long-term sectors while responding quickly to emerging short-term market hotspots. Under a controlled risk framework, HTX expanded user choice and delivered tangible wealth effects. Specifically, newly listed RIVER, which launched on January 16, rose from a low of 17 USDT to a peak of 88.8 USDT, achieving a maximum gain of 422.4%. DUSK surged from 0.0375 USDT to 0.32 USDT, posting a remarkable 753.3% monthly increase.
Behind these results lies HTX’s continuous tracking of market sentiment, capital flows, and narrative cycles, as well as its rapid response.
The Memecoin Sector: Structural Opportunities in an Emotion-Driven Market
The memecoin sector remained one of the most active areas of the market in January. Even amid limited liquidity, projects with strong consensus and viral appeal continued to attract concentrated capital flows.
PEPE briefly climbed to 0.0000071 USDT, delivering a monthly gain of 82.1% and emerging as an early rebound leader.
BONK (Bonk), Solana’s first community-driven dog-themed token, rose 78.1%, demonstrating that established memecoin projects can still absorb capital in weaker markets.
NEIRO (Neiro) recorded a peak gain of 66.3% following its listing, showing steady performance.
BROCCOLI (CZ’s Dog) benefited from strong topical narratives and community engagement, surging from 0.0149 USDT to 0.043 USDT, up 188.6%.
HTX’s early positioning in Chinese-language memecoin projects was particularly noteworthy. The platform debuted “Binance Life” and “我踏马来了“, which recorded monthly increases of 172.7% and 441.7%, respectively, and were listed 83 days earlier than on Binance.
AI and Cross-Chain: Narrative-Driven Growth with Clear Upside
AI and cross-chain sectors remain among the few spaces in the current market with relatively strong medium- to long-term fundamentals.
VIRTUAL(Virtuals Protocol) is building an autonomous intelligent economy for tradable, interactive, and evolving AI agents. As the x402 ecosystem gained rapid traction, VIRTUAL recorded a 90.3% monthly gain, demonstrating an independent price trajectory amid market volatility.
RIVER (River) is building a chain-abstracted stablecoin system that connects assets, liquidity, and yield across multiple blockchains. As one of the most standout performers in the cross-chain sector, River quickly captured market attention following its listing, supported by a well-defined technical roadmap and strong capital backing.
Privacy and DeFi: The Rally in Undervalued Assets
The privacy sector has maintained sustained momentum, with a clear rotation of market focus from large-cap assets such as ZEC and XMR to smaller-cap projects.
DUSK (Dusk Network), a blockchain platform built for regulated and decentralized finance, surged 753.3% as privacy narratives returned to the spotlight.
ZKP(zkPass), a zkTLS-based oracle network, rose 103.7% monthly, underscoring continued infrastructure-level progress in zero-knowledge and privacy technologies.
GWEI (ETHGas), an Ethereum infrastructure protocol focused on reducing transaction latency, rose 157.9%, representing a structural opportunity within a niche DeFi segment.
Looking ahead, HTX will expand coverage across emerging sectors and narratives, navigating market cycles alongside its users and preparing together for the next phase of market recovery.
About HTX
Founded in 2013, HTX (formerly Huobi) has evolved from a virtual asset exchange into a comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain businesses that span digital asset trading, financial derivatives, research, investments, incubation, and other businesses.
As a world-leading gateway to Web3, HTX harbors global capabilities that enable it to provide users with safe and reliable services. Adhering to the growth strategy of “Global Expansion, Thriving Ecosystem, Wealth Effect, Security & Compliance,” HTX is dedicated to providing quality services and values to virtual asset enthusiasts worldwide.
To learn more about HTX, please visit https://www.htx.com/ or HTX Square , and follow HTX on X, Telegram, and Discord. For further inquiries, please contact [email protected].
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