January 2026 Crypto Payment Statistics: Monero Leads, Zcash and TON Surge
This report is part of our monthly crypto merchant data series. See all NanoGPT crypto payment statistics.
January saw Monero give back more share, Zcash and TON surge, and Bitcoin (including Lightning) climb past 18% combined.
Here is the breakdown.
Monero Still Leads, but Continues to Cool
Monero eased to 40.47%, down from December's 44.01%. It remains the clear leader, but the gap is narrowing as volume spreads across more coins.
Nano Holds Steady
Nano came in at 18.01%, nearly unchanged from 18.73% last month. Consistent as ever in second place.
Bitcoin Climbs, Lightning Grows Too
On-chain Bitcoin jumped to 15.39% from 11.67%, while Lightning rose to 2.82% from 1.96%. Combined, BTC + LN now sit at 18.21%, up from 13.63% last month — the biggest mover this month.
Zcash and TON Break Out
Zcash surged to 5.23% from just 1.40% in December — nearly quadrupling its share. TON similarly jumped to 1.89% from 0.42%. Both coins had quiet Decembers and came back strong.
USDC and Litecoin Ease Slightly
USDC slipped to 9.71% from 10.85%, and Litecoin pulled back to 4.03% from 5.66%. Both still hold strong positions in the top six.
Mid-Tier and Long Tail
DASH climbed to 1.41% from 0.80%, while Bitcoin Cash held flat at 0.82%. Dogecoin dropped sharply to 0.05% from 1.01%. In the tail, LTC-MWEB edged to 0.09%, Banano came in at 0.07%, and POL, VERSE, and ZANO each registered 0.01%. A few coins from December — SOL, ETH, and FUSD — saw no recorded volume this month.
The Full Data
Here is the complete breakdown for all coins in January:
- XMR: 40.47%
- XNO: 18.01%
- BTC: 15.39%
- USDC: 9.71%
- ZEC: 5.23%
- LTC: 4.03%
- BTC-LN: 2.82%
- TON: 1.89%
- DASH: 1.41%
- BCH: 0.82%
- LTC-MWEB: 0.09%
- BAN: 0.07%
- DOGE: 0.05%
- POL: 0.01%
- VERSE: 0.01%
- ZANO: 0.01%
Takeaways
- XMR still dominates but has shed share for two months running.
- BTC + LN is the month's biggest gainer, now challenging Nano for second place in volume terms.
- ZEC and TON both had breakout months, hinting at growing demand beyond the usual top four.
- USDC and LTC cooled slightly after strong Decembers but remain solidly mid-tier.
- DOGE faded significantly — from 1.01% to near zero.
- The top four coins (XMR, XNO, BTC, USDC) still account for about 84% of all volume, similar to December.
That wraps January. Bitcoin's rise (especially with Lightning gaining traction) and Zcash's breakout are the stories to watch heading into February.
