More Than 6 In 10 Use Crypto For Passive Income, 46% To Beat Inflation – Study

According to MEXC’s H1 2025 user survey , nearly half of users now say they turned to crypto to protect against rising prices, and many others are chasing steady returns.

The shift is sharp: 46% of global respondents named inflation protection as their main reason to enter the market, up from nearly 30% in Q1.

Inflation Protection On The Rise

That move toward defense is strongest in East Asia and the Middle East. In East Asia the share saying they use crypto to hedge inflation jumped to 52%.

In the Middle East the figure climbed from 27% to 45%. At the same time, the survey shows fewer very large accounts in East Asia: wallets holding over $20,000 slipped from 39% to 33%.

Mid-range holdings, in the $5k–$20k range, are increasing. Those trends indicate some profit-taking as well as regulatory conservatism, whereas more run-of-the-mill investors invested smaller amounts.

Latin America Presents A Different Push

Reports have revealed a clear trend in Latin America, where the pursuit of income is high. Memecoin ownership grew from 27% to 34% — the largest regional increase — and 63% of new users indicated passive income as their primary reason to join crypto.

That points to social and community-driven activity, where token drops, staking, and yield products can draw people in as much as price moves do.

South Asia stands out for trading. Spot trading made up 52% of user activity there, and 53% of South Asian users cited financial independence as their goal.

Across regions, public chain tokens remain the most held assets: over 65% of users worldwide include them in portfolios. That rises to 74% in Latin America and 70% in Southeast Asia.

Stablecoin use held steady at 50%, showing many users want a buffer between volatile bets and cash-like options.

Based on the survey, MEXC expects more people to come in for wealth protection in the next quarter, along with a rise in structured trading approaches and broader diversification.

Tracy Jin, MEXC’s COO, said the company plans to tailor offerings to where demand is strongest, while aiming to keep its platform trusted across markets.

Short-lived hype around memecoins and AI tokens is likely, but core public chain holdings are expected to keep their grip on portfolios.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView