TL;DR
- Spot trading volume on crypto exchanges fell to $1.13 trillion in December, down 32% from November and 49% from October, marking the lowest level since September 2024.
- Binance recorded $367.35 billion and led in liquidity, while ByBit, HTX, Gate, and Coinbase posted lower activity and the market lost more than $1 trillion in volume over two months.
- The DEX/CEX ratio rose to 17.95% despite the overall downturn, driven by greater self-custody, on-chain execution improvements, and economic incentives.
Spot trading volume on crypto exchanges dropped to $1.13 trillion in December, the lowest level since September 2024. The figure reflects a 32% decline from November, when the market processed $1.66 trillion, and a 49% drop from October, which recorded $2.23 trillion in trades.
Binance posted $367.35 billion of the monthly total, keeping its position as the main liquidity hub. ByBit, HTX, Gate, and Coinbase followed with lower volumes and more limited activity compared with previous months. Taken together, the market shed more than $1 trillion in monthly volume over a two-month period.
Why Did Exchange Volumes Fall?
The contraction was driven by several operational factors. Compressed volatility reduced arbitrage opportunities and directional trading. Year-end dynamics accelerated portfolio adjustments and exposure cuts. The lack of events capable of reactivating speculative flows limited new capital inflows. At the same time, part of the funds moved off centralized exchanges into self-custody structures or alternative execution channels.
On decentralized exchanges, volume also declined. In December, monthly trading fell to $245 billion, down 20% from November and 46% from October. Uniswap held the top spot with $60 billion in volume, although it operated in a market with lower rotation and reduced intraday activity.
CEX vs DEX
Even so, the relationship between DEXs and CEXs continued to increase. The DEX/CEX ratio rose to 17.95% in December, up from 15.92% in November and 10.32% a year earlier. Volume fell across the board, but DEXs lost less relative activity than centralized exchanges.
This shift was linked to a stronger preference for self-custody, improvements in on-chain execution, and the impact of new DEX launches offering volume incentives through airdrops. The change did not offset the overall decline in activity, but it did alter the distribution of flows.
At the same time, the adjustment in volumes coincided with a broader market correction. Bitcoin is trading near $89,400, up a moderate 1.7% on the day, but still about 30% below the all-time high reached in Octobe
