Crypto exchange activity diverged sharply in 2025, as spot market growth slowed down while derivatives trading continued to expand at a strong pace.
Total spot trading volume reached $18.6 trillion. This represented a 9% year-on-year increase, but it is a significant deceleration from the 154% growth recorded in 2024.
Crypto Exchange Activity
According to CryptoQuant, perpetual futures activity, in contrast, rose 29% year-on-year to $61.7 trillion, after adding $13.8 trillion in volume compared with the previous year. Spot trading remained highly concentrated among major venues. Binance recorded close to $7 trillion in volume and accounted for 41% of the top-10 exchanges’ total.
The platform led activity across both Bitcoin and altcoins. CryptoQuant observed particularly strong volumes in Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Binance Coin (BNB), Tron (TRX), and Solana (SOL).
Meanwhile, crypto exchanges such as Bybit, MEXC, and Crypto.com followed at a considerable distance, as each posted approximately $1.3 trillion to $1.5 trillion in spot volume. In Bitcoin perpetual futures, Binance also maintained a clear lead as it processed $25.4 trillion in volume, or 42% of the top-10 total.
OKX, Bybit, and Bitget formed a second tier, with each capturing between 11% and 19% of market share. Hyperliquid emerged as a notable player with $2.2 trillion in volume, while the remaining exchanges, including Coinbase, collectively accounted for around 10%.
Stablecoin liquidity was similarly concentrated, and Binance held $47.6 billion in USDT and USDC reserves, representing 72% of top-10 balances. Overall reserves showed a steep drop-off beyond the largest holders. Binance and Coinbase together accounted for more than half of the combined BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC reserves.
Regional Divides in User Bases
Separate data compiled by independent journalist Colin Wu further revealed that traffic data also pointed to clear regional differences in exchange usage. Binance’s user base was relatively diversified geographically. Its largest sources of traffic came from South Korea, Brazil, and Vietnam.
On the other hand, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Kraken drew the majority of their traffic from the United States. The data also showed that several exchanges received a significant share of visits from Russia and Russian-speaking regions.
