Crypto Exchanges See Record-Breaking Decline in Trading Volume
The world's largest crypto exchanges are seeing a significant decline in trading volume. In Q2 of this year, they cleared $2.3 trillion in spot crypto volume, down from $3.1 trillion in Q1 and far below the record $6.3 trillion set in Q4 2024.
This drop in volume is unusual because it's happening despite a shift towards decentralized exchanges (DEXs) rather than traditional centralized ones (CEXs). On-chain trading volume, which includes DEX activity, reached an all-time high of around 24% in July this year, up from below 10% in 2024.
The migration to DEXs is likely due to the increasing popularity of Solana and other fast and cheap chains. In June alone, Solana's decentralized venues handled $50.8 billion in trading volume, surpassing Ethereum's $29.4 billion.