In April, the combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralised exchanges fell 27.9% to $2.77tn, recording the first month-on-month decline in trading volume this year. The decline in trading activity saw centralised exchanges record their lowest volumes since December 2022. This follows a month in which the price of major crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, stayed largely range-bound after failing to break key resistance levels.
Spot trading volume on centralised exchanges dropped 40.2% to $621bn, marking the lowest since December 2022 and the second-lowest since July 2020. Derivatives trading volume also dwindled in April, falling 23.3% to $2.15tn, however, its market share hit a record 77.6%.
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Key takeaways:
- Spot trading volume on Binance fell 48.1% to $287bn in April, recording its second-lowest monthly trading volume since 2021. Binance’s market share also continued to slide, falling for the second consecutive month to 46.3%, its lowest market share since October 2022 (prior to the FTX collapse which triggered a consolidation of trading activity to Binance).
- Despite declining volumes, Binance’s position as the dominant exchange in the industry is still a long way from being threatened - with Coinbase and OKX, the next largest exchanges, accounting for only 5.60% and 5.39% of the total spot trading market in April.
- Since the launch of zero-fee trading of the BTC-TUSD pair on March 22nd, the TUSD trading volumes for the trading pair have soared to an all-time high, rising 851% to $34.0bn in April. TUSD is now the third largest stablecoin by trading volume on centralised exchanges, surpassing USDC for the first time since June 2020.
- Korean exchange, Upbit, resumed its impressive trend in trading activity this year, now accounting for 4.77% of the market share compared to 2.81% at the beginning of the year – an all-time high for the exchange.
- BTC trading volume with USDT and BUSD has seen a heavy decline in April, with the former trading pair falling 65.9% to $117bn and being surpassed by the BTC/TUSD pair for the first time on Binance on April 15th.
- In April, CME’s BTC Futures volume fell 24.0% to $26.7bn, while CME’s BTC Micro Futures traded $702mn in monthly volume, up 0.72% from the month prior. This is the first decline in four months for CME BTC futures volume.
Trading Activity Falls to a Four-Month Low
In April, spot trading volume on centralised exchanges fell 40.2% to $621bn, recording the lowest volumes since December 2022 and the second-lowest spot trading volumes since July 2020, reversing the trend in trading activity this year. Derivatives volumes also declined 23.3% to $2.15tn, despite reaching a new all-time high market share in April.
The uncertainty surrounding macroeconomic conditions, including looming recession threats and a possible pause on Fed rate hikes amidst the turmoil in the banking sector, has contributed to the declining volumes this month.
Binance’s Spot Market Share Falls to Pre-FTX Collapse Levels
Spot trading volume on Binance fell 48.1% to $287bn in April, recording its second-lowest monthly trading volume since 2021. Binance’s market share also continued to slide, falling for the second consecutive month to 46.3%, its lowest market share since October 2022 (prior to the FTX collapse which triggered a consolidation of trading activity to Binance).
Binance’s position as the dominant exchange in the industry is still a long way from being threatened with Coinbase and OKX, the next largest exchanges, accounting for only 5.60% and 5.39% of the total spot trading market.
Derivatives Market Share Reaches New All-time High
In April, derivatives trading volume on centralised exchanges fell 23.3% to $2.15tn, while the spot trading volume fell 40.2% to $621bn as major crypto assets traded largely rebound after failing to break key resistance levels. The market share of derivatives trading increased for the second consecutive month, reaching an all-time high of 77.6%.
Binance remains the largest derivatives trading platform, trading $1.32tn and accounting for 61.4% of the market share. OKX and Bybit followed in second and third place, with a market share of 15.0% and 14.6%.
