During the first half of 2026, the trading volume of crypto derivatives reached $35.08 trillion, marking a 15.7% decline compared to the same period in the previous year. While there was a recovery following an April low, metrics such as open interest (OI), liquidations, and institutional flows indicated an asynchronous market recovery, according to a report from CoinGlass.
CoinGlass 2026 H1 Crypto Market Report is live.
Key insights from the market:
Crypto derivatives reached US$35.08 trillion, averaging US$193.8 billion per day, down 15.7% from US$41.60 trillion in the same period of 2025.
Binance remains the largest derivatives exchange by… pic.twitter.com/EEgk8RyTeR
— CoinGlass (@coinglass_com) July 23, 2026
A year earlier, the figure was $41.60 trillion, with an average daily trading volume of $193.8 billion from January to June 2026. The report characterized the market as experiencing reduced trading activity, persistent elevated risk in open positions, and concentrated liquidation episodes.
“Further data is needed to confirm the resilience of market recovery,” the authors noted.
Volumes Declined Until April
According to CoinGlass, the drop in trading volume was not an isolated incident. In January, the crypto derivatives turnover was $6.73 trillion, followed by $6.25 trillion in February, $5.83 trillion in March, and a low of $5.29 trillion in April.
May showed little change ($5.31 trillion), while June saw a slight increase to $5.66 trillion, although it remained 15.9% below January's levels. The first quarter recorded $18.81 trillion, while the second quarter was $16.27 trillion, reflecting a quarter-to-quarter decrease of 13.5%.
Analysts pointed out that the activity was event-driven, with the peak daily volume occurring on February 6 at $480.4 billion and the lowest point recorded on April 5 at $74.7 billion, resulting in a gap of approximately 6.4 times.
“A monthly rebound driven by several exceptionally active trading days is currently insufficient to confirm a broad and sustainable recovery in trading demand,” the report stated.
Analysts assessed that the decrease in turnover primarily indicates weaker contract activity, short-term participation, and lower risk appetite compared to the previous year, without implying a proportional reduction in all underlying risks that persisted in the system.
Open Interest Declined More Slowly Than Volume
The average daily open interest for the first half of the year was $112.7 billion, reflecting a 10% year-on-year decrease. By June 30, the total open interest stood at $99.94 billion, a 17.9% drop from the start of the year.
Source: CoinGlass.The dynamics were uneven: in January, the average daily open interest was $134.46 billion, falling to $97.70 billion in February, recovering to $101.20 billion in March, rising to $113.82 billion in April, and reaching $123.99 billion in May, before dropping again to $103.56 billion in June.
Daily data reflected a similar trend, with open interest decreasing from a peak of $145.24 billion on January 15 to a low of $92.29 billion on February 25, marking a 36.5% decline over six weeks.
In the second quarter, CoinGlass noted a divergence between trading volumes and accumulated risk. The average daily open interest grew by 2.1% compared to the first quarter, while total trading volume fell by 13.5%.
“Many positions did not close synchronously with the cooling of trading activity, leaving significant exposure in the market,” the authors indicated.
According to CoinGlass, if open interest continues to rise in the second half of the year without a corresponding recovery in volume and market depth, risks could accumulate in a less liquid environment, increasing the market's sensitivity to price shocks and concentrated liquidations.
Liquidations Reached $73.35 Billion
In the first half of the year, CoinGlass recorded liquidations totaling $73.35 billion, averaging around $405 million per day. Long positions accounted for $45.63 billion, or 62.2% of all liquidations, while short positions contributed $27.72 billion, or 37.8%.
Source: CoinGlass.Liquidations occurred in waves month by month:
- January — $15.02 billion;
- February — $12.65 billion;
- March — $9.82 billion;
- April — $9.28 billion;
- May — $10.44 billion;
- June — $16.14 billion.
June recorded the highest volume of liquidations for the half-year period, with long positions rising to 69.5% of the total.
The largest single-day liquidation occurred on January 31, totaling $2.588 billion, with $2.433 billion from long positions. Other notable days included February 5, with $2.135 billion, and June 5, with $1.833 billion.
The top three days accounted for 8.9% of all liquidations for the half-year. CoinGlass noted that this underscores the event-driven nature of leverage reduction.
Top 10 Exchanges Held 81.2% of Volume
The crypto derivatives market remained highly concentrated, with the top 10 exchanges responsible for 81.2% of total volume, and the top 5 alone accounting for 61.2%.
Source: CoinGlass.Leading the pack was Binance with $9.34 trillion and a market share of 26.6%. OKX followed in second place with $4.19 trillion (11.9%). Bybit, MEXC, and Gate recorded volumes of $2.72 trillion (7.7%), $2.70 trillion (7.7%), and $2.53 trillion (7.2%), respectively.
Bitget secured the sixth position in derivatives trading volume with $1.68 trillion, representing 4.8% of the total.
CME ranked seventh with $1.43 trillion and a 4.1% share, followed by Coinbase, BingX, and WhiteBIT, each showing volumes ranging from $1.29 trillion to $1.31 trillion and a share of around 3.7%.
Source: CoinGlass.CoinGlass also highlighted that the share of the top 10 exchanges increased from 79.7% in January to 82.3% in June. Binance's share rose from 24.1% to 28.3%, while OKX's increased from 10.6% to 12.8%.
The authors suggest that the recovery of June's volumes was primarily driven by leading crypto-native platforms, raising market concentration above the beginning of the year.
In terms of average daily open interest, the market structure differed from volume distribution. The top 10 exchanges accounted for 79.3% of total open interest, while the top 5 made up 56.2%.
Binance maintained its lead with $24.01 billion and a 21.3% share. CME was second with $13.55 billion (12%), despite only holding a 4.1% trading volume share.
Source: CoinGlass.Gate, MEXC, and OKX ranked third to fifth in average daily open interest with $10.23 billion, $8.93 billion, and $6.70 billion, respectively. Bitget was again sixth with $6.39 billion and a 5.7% share.
CoinGlass noted that crypto-native platforms dominated trading flows, while CME held a more significant weight in open positions, reflecting differences in participant composition and holding periods.
CoinGlass examined the depth of the order books for BTC and ETH derivatives within ±1% of the average price, indicating the volume of orders available near the current market price and how large trades might impact prices.
On the BTC market, depth was concentrated on Binance and OKX, with Binance showing $236 million, or 44% of total depth in the sample, and OKX displaying $112 million and 20.8%. Bybit and Bitget had $74.36 million (13.9%) and $71.70 million (13.4%), respectively, while Gate had $42.64 million or 7.9%.
The ETH market exhibited a more even distribution, with Binance in the lead at $109 million and a 28.7% share, followed by Bitget with $81.37 million (21.4%).
OKX recorded $73.35 million and 19.2%, Bybit had $62.61 million and 16.4%, and Gate had $54.35 million and 14.3%.
The total depth of the ETH book across five platforms was approximately $381 million compared to $537 million for BTC, with ETH liquidity being more evenly distributed among exchanges.
Bitcoin ETFs End Half-Year with Outflows
In the U.S., spot Bitcoin ETFs ended the first half of 2026 with a net outflow of $5.46 billion. On positive trading days, the funds attracted $13.17 billion, while on negative days, they lost $18.63 billion. CoinGlass noted that while bidirectional flows remained active, redemptions predominated.
In January, the outflow was $1.606 billion, followed by $207 million in February. In March and April, the funds experienced inflows of $1.322 billion and $1.966 billion, respectively.
Source: CoinGlass.However, May and June saw a return to negative dynamics, with outflows of $2.425 billion and $4.510 billion.
“Spot BTC ETFs did not achieve sustainable net subscriptions in the first half of the year,” the authors pointed out.
CoinGlass suggested that a short-term or one-off return to inflows does not confirm a reversal in institutional demand. Whether funds can maintain stable inflows and asset growth without considering price effects will be crucial in the second half of the year.
In the U.S., spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a net outflow of $1.483 billion in the first half of the year. On positive trading days, the inflows amounted to $3.215 billion, while on negative days, outflows reached $4.698 billion.
In January, the funds lost $353 million, followed by $370 million in February, and $46 million in March. April saw a net inflow of $356 million, but outflows resumed in May and June, totaling $541 million and $529 million, respectively.
Source: CoinGlass.The total assets of Ethereum ETFs dropped from $19.05 billion on January 2 to $8.33 billion by June 30, peaking at $20.84 billion on January 14. CoinGlass noted that changes in assets cannot be fully explained by inflows and outflows alone, as Ethereum's price movements also played a role.
The authors emphasized that Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs should be evaluated separately due to differences in asset sizes, product structures, and the pace of share creation and redemption.
Asynchronous Recovery Persists
In the concluding section, CoinGlass stated that the crypto derivatives market has not experienced a linear reduction in leverage. There were simultaneous declines in trading volume, periodic recovery of positions, and concentrated risk reduction.
In the second half of the year, analysts suggested monitoring whether the recovery in volumes can be sustained and whether ETF flows and corporate purchases can improve simultaneously.
“The market recovery will only become more robust with broader synchronization of trading activity, capital absorption capabilities, and institutional demand,” the authors concluded.
It is worth noting that K33 experts have indicated that spot trading activity in the cryptocurrency market may decline to its lowest level since November 2023 in July.
Earlier, Grayscale analysts linked the potential bottom for Bitcoin to the Federal Reserve's future policies, suggesting that macroeconomic factors have become more significant than the classical four-year halving cycle.