Decentralized exchanges are gaining momentum, while among centralized exchanges Binance is losing ground

According to the 0xScope report, significant transformations have taken place in the centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) market since last year. Institutional investments in Web3 gained full momentum at the beginning of 2024 following the approval of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds in January and Ethereum (ETH) in July. Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of over $73,000 in March 2024, with its subsequent halving occurring a month later. For most of this year, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies surpassed $2 trillion, exceeding the figures recorded in 2021.

There has been a surge in activity on centralized exchanges for cryptocurrency trading.

The 0xScope report utilizes data covering the period from October 9, 2023, to October 9, 2024. It includes the 22 largest centralized exchanges (by overall market volume): Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC Global, Gate.io, Crypto.com, Huobi, KuCoin, Upbit, Coinbase, Bitrue, LBank, Kraken, CoinEx, BitMEX, Bitstamp, BtcTurk Pro, bitFlyer, Gemini, Binance US, and Coinone.

The total trading volume on these CEX during the specified period amounted to $54 trillion. The cumulative spot trading volume over the past 12 months was $14.6 trillion. As expected, Binance remains the leader with a volume of $5.78 trillion, or 39.54% of the market. However, Binance's loss in market share is most noticeable in spot trading, which decreased by 13% year-over-year.

• The Bybit exchange rose from 7th place with a market share of 3.2% to 2nd place with 8.51% market share.
• OKX holds 3rd place with a 6.38% market share.
• Upbit dropped from 2nd place (with a share of 6.8%) to 4th place this year (5.77%).
• Coinbase fell from 3rd place (5.8%) to 5th place (5.68%).

Of the 22 exchanges, half allow cryptocurrency derivatives tradingDerivatives trading involves a transaction between a buyer and a seller concerning the exchange of a specific asset at a defined price and quantity on a specified date.. These exchanges processed a total derivatives trading volume of $39.38 trillion over the past 12 months, nearly three times the overall spot trading volume.

• Binance's market share decreased from 50.9% to 42.5% year-over-year.
• OKX's market share increased from 15.5% to 19.83%.
• Bybit also experienced growth from 11.3% to 13.98%.

Coinbase and Upbit, two exchanges with significant spot trading volumes, were not included in the derivatives trading analysis in this report. Upbit does not support derivatives trading due to a ban in South Korea. Meanwhile, Coinbase facilitates derivatives trading through its subsidiary, Coinbase International Exchange.

Who is taking market share from Binance?

The three exchanges listed below have been the main contributors to the reduction of Binance's leadership:

• OKX — growth from 13.4% to 16.19%.
• Bybit — growth from 9.6% to 12.5%.
• Bitget — growth from 7.0% to 10.28%.

OKX, Bybit, and Bitget respectively remain the second, third, and fourth largest exchanges in the world. MEXC Global firmly holds the fifth position, despite a decrease in market share from 6.9% to 4.1% year-over-year.

What's happening on decentralized exchanges (DEX)

The dominance of Ethereum is declining in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL), with growth shifting to protocols based on other networks such as Bitcoin, BNB Chain, Solana, Tron, and various Layer 2 (L2) networks.

Over the past 12 months (October 2023 – October 2024), trading volumes on DEX have significantly increased. In March 2024, DEX collectively processed over $250 billion in trading volume for the first time since December 2022. This was repeated three months later—in June 2024.

As of October 17, 2024, the ratio of spot trading volumes on DEX compared to CEX figures stood at 13.6%. In other words, for every $1 billion in spot trading on CEX, there was $136 million in trading on DEX.

Centralized Exchange Tokens

1. BNB (supported by Binance, native token of BNB Chain)
2. LEO (from Bitfinex)
3. OKB (from OKX)
4. BGB (from Bitget)
5. MNT (native token of Mantle, supported by Bybit)
6. HT (from Huobi, currently has the ticker HTX)
7. KCS (from Kucoin)

BNB ranks among the top five cryptocurrencies in the world by market capitalization and is used not only on the Binance exchange but also within the BNB Chain and thousands of projects utilizing this network.

• In terms of weekly trading volume, BNB's peak reached $41.32 billion during the week of Bitcoin's historic maximum (March 19, 2024). This year, BNB's average weekly trading volume is about $8.57 billion. The BNB token gradually increased from $200 in October 2023 to $710 in June 2024, achieving an all-time high. In fact, since March 2024, BNB has primarily fluctuated between $500 and $600. Amid the cryptocurrency market's growth in 2023-2024, BNB's market capitalization rose from $32.7 billion in October 2023 to $110 billion in June 2024.
• In second place for trading volume is MNT, followed by BGB.
• OKB reached its record high in March 2024 ($72.22), but this token mostly remained within a price range of $40 to $60 for the majority of the year.
• The most notable decline was observed in HT, which gradually fell from $2.30 in October 2023 to $0.50 in the current year.
• The market capitalization of LEO increased from $3.5 billion in October 2023 to $5.5 billion a year later. A significant portion of this growth occurred in March 2024.
• MNT showed strong growth throughout most of 2024: from $1 billion in October 2023 to $4.7 billion in April 2024, before stabilizing at around $2 billion.
• OKB's capitalization rose from $2.5 billion in October 2023 to $4.3 billion in March 2024, after which it gradually declined back to its initial level of $2.5 billion.

Source: 0xScope