MEXC named Vugar Usi chief executive officer on April 8, 2026, the day the exchange marked its eighth anniversary1. Usi moved up from chief operating officer, a role in which he had led efforts to deepen transparency and risk management, MEXC said in its announcement. MEXC tied the promotion to a year of growth: it became one of the world's top five exchanges by trading volume in 2025, with volume up 90.9 percent year on year, according to CoinGecko figures MEXC cited.
Four leadership moves at MEXC on the record since 2025
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sept. 22, 2025 | Hsueh became Chief Strategy Officer. Cecilia Hsueh was named Chief Strategy Officer of MEXC |
| Dec. 3, 2025 | Usi became COO. Vugar Usi was named Chief Operating Officer of MEXC |
| April 8, 2026 | Usi became CEO. Vugar Usi was named Chief Executive Officer of MEXC |
| July 22, 2026 | MacDonald became Chief Compliance Officer. Robert MacDonald was named Chief Compliance Officer of MEXC |
18 CEO appointments on the record in 2026 so far
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2026: 18
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2025 | 35 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
MEXC framed Usi's rise as a shift toward conviction over credentials. “Navigating the next tier of global leadership now demands an executive defined by profound industry conviction and operational excellence, rather than conventional credentials,” the company said in its release1. Usi had previously helped scale Bitget into a top-tier exchange before joining MEXC, the release said. He credited the platform's product for his own move to the company. "What drew me to MEXC was the product," Usi said. “Even before joining, I saw an exchange that was faster, smoother and more responsive than its peers,” he said.
Usi struck a combative note about MEXC's standing among exchanges. “MEXC is the dark horse of this industry, consistently outperforming competitors who focus on marketing over product,” Usi said. "We win through product strength, competitive fees and genuine community engagement," he said1. He also pointed to the cost of MEXC's zero-fee model. “In the past year alone, our zero-fee model has returned more than $1 billion to our users,” according to the release.
MEXC's position
MEXC says it serves more than 40 million users across 170-plus markets, with trading in more than 3,000 digital assets1. The CEO change coincided with a rebrand, citybiz reported, with MEXC unveiling a new logo built around an infinity-shaped mark2. Usi's mandate covers global operations, risk management and regulatory engagement as MEXC expands into equities-related products and prediction markets, the release said.
What to watch
Usi's own language sets the bar for his tenure. Watch for MEXC's trading-volume ranking against other exchanges over the year ahead, since Usi named that ranking as his evidence of outperforming competitors1. A second marker sits in the zero-fee model's cost. Its dollar total climbing past the $1 billion already reported would show whether that commitment holds as the exchange scales into new asset classes.
Sources
- MEXC, "MEXC Appoints Vugar Usi as CEO to Drive Global 'Infinite Opportunities' Vision," GlobeNewswire, April 8, 2026, https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/04/08/3269871/0/en/MEXC-Appoints-Vugar-Usi-as-CEO-to-Drive-Global-Infinite-Opportunities-Vision.html
- "MEXC Appoints Vugar Usi as CEO," citybiz, April 8, 2026, https://www.citybiz.co/article/829911/mexc-appoints-vugar-usi-as-ceo/