Pacifica vs MEXC

Pacifica or MEXC: which to use

Pacifica vs MEXC is a decentralized exchange against a centralized one. On Pacifica you trade from your own wallet without ID, at 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, with up to 50x. MEXC requires KYC before trading, holds your funds in an account, and charges 1 bp maker and 4 bp taker, with up to 1000x. MEXC lists far more markets, including more real-world assets, while Pacifica pays funding hourly on every market. Custody, ID and the leverage you need decide it for most traders.

How each exchange is built

Pacifica is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana. You trade from a self-custody wallet, so you hold the funds. It matches orders on a central limit order book.

MEXC is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. It also matches orders on a central limit order book.

For the trader, the difference is custody and onboarding. A wallet on Pacifica needs no account with a company. An account on MEXC needs identity verification before you can trade.

Fees and what they mean

Pacifica's base tier is 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Pacifica's fee page. MEXC's base tier is 1 bp maker and 4 bp taker, read from MEXC's API. MEXC has no fee page to link.

The taker rate is the same on both. A market order pays it to open and again to close, so a round trip is 8 bp in fees on either exchange. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead: 1.5 bp on Pacifica and 1 bp on MEXC.

Fees are only part of a trade's cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size. The round trip in the cost table above includes both at each size, and every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 MEXC lists 1202 active perps, 93 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. Pacifica lists 77, of which 24 are real-world assets. The real-world asset perps page covers that group across exchanges.

MEXC allows up to 1000x and Pacifica up to 50x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. Pacifica pays funding every hour on every market. MEXC pays every 1, 4, 8 or 24 hours depending on the market, so check a market's interval before you hold it. An hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times, and a 24-hour market once. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

Pacifica asks for no ID. It is closed to the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines and sanctioned countries. MEXC requires KYC before trading, in force since February 2026, and unverified accounts see market data only.

Tokens and points

Pacifica has no token yet. As of 19 September 2026 its points and airdrop program was Active, and the airdrops page lists programs that are running. MEXC's token is $MX. Pacifica runs no vault that arb.sh tracks.

Reading the numbers on this page

Pacifica publishes open interest as longs plus shorts, both sides of every position. MEXC publishes one side of open positions. For the same positions Pacifica's figure reads about twice as large, so the open interest row and chart above are not a like-for-like comparison of size.

MEXC publishes no TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange. The TVL row and chart show Pacifica alone, as DefiLlama's figure for the exchange.

Which one fits you

• Pick Pacifica if you want to keep funds in your own wallet and trade without ID.
• Pick Pacifica if you want every market on an hourly funding schedule.
• Pick Pacifica if you want to follow a points program, which was Active as of 19 September 2026.
• Pick MEXC if you prefer an exchange account and accept KYC before trading.
• Pick MEXC if you rest limit orders and want the lower maker fee: 1 bp against 1.5 bp.
• Pick MEXC if you need more than 50x, or a wider choice of markets, including 93 real-world asset perps.