The number of tracked cryptocurrencies has surged to 29.91 million as of January 12, 2026, marking an increase of approximately 620,000 since the start of the year, according to CoinMarketCap data reported by Finbold. In the past 30 days alone, over 1.57 million new cryptocurrencies were introduced, with 357,773 launched in the last week. This rapid growth is attributed to the low cost and ease of creating new tokens, often requiring just a wallet and minimal transaction fees. Despite the influx of new tokens, many are short-lived, created primarily for testing purposes or to capture short-term attention. These assets frequently suffer from sharp price declines post-launch due to insufficient liquidity, lack of utility, or diminishing interest.