Derivatives accounted for 76.5% of the total trading volume on centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) in March, marking the highest level since September 2023. Gold has entered the top five assets by futures volume for the first time, while the share of DEX in spot trading has dropped to a yearly low. Binance maintained its leading positions in volume, market share, and open interest (OI), according to CoinDesk's March Exchange Review.
Derivatives Dominate
The trading volume of derivatives on CEX reached $3.99 trillion, down 3.2% from February. Spot volumes fell more sharply, down 15.7% to $1.27 trillion. The gap between the segments widened, with the share of derivatives in the total CEX turnover rising to 76.5%—the highest since September 2023.
Source: Exchange Review.Binance leads among derivatives platforms with a volume of $1.41 trillion and a market share of 35.4%. This is greater than the combined volumes of OKX ($716 billion, 17.9%) and Gate ($480 billion, 12%).
Source: Exchange Review.Open interest on derivatives platforms increased by 7.7% to $88.9 billion. Binance accounted for 23.1% of total OI—more than double that of Bybit (10.7%) and three times that of Gate (9.76%).
Gold in the Top 5 Derivative Assets, DEXs Retreat
The geopolitical crisis in the Middle East has shifted traders' focus to commodity markets. Gold (XAU) rose to fifth place among assets by futures trading volume, reaching $55.6 billion for the month. The top spots were held by BTC ($522 billion), ETH ($258 billion), SOL ($51.8 billion), and XRP ($51.5 billion).
Decentralized exchanges continued to lose ground in both segments. The spot volume on DEX fell by 23.9% to $212 billion, and its share in spot trading dropped to 14.3%, the lowest since April 2025.
Source: Exchange Review.The volume of derivatives on DEX decreased by 7.1% to $700 billion. Its share fell to 14.9%, the lowest level since September 2025. According to CoinDesk, this marks the fifth consecutive month of decline. Traders are returning to centralized platforms, where macro assets, deeper liquidity, and leverage are available.
Binance Leads in Spot Trading
In the spot market, Binance maintained a 21.3% share with a volume of $270 billion. The next four exchanges rated AA-A by CoinDesk's methodology—Bybit ($60 billion), Gate ($55.7 billion), Coinbase ($53.6 billion), and Crypto.com ($53 billion)—together fall short of Binance's volume.
Source: Exchange Review.As a reminder, on April 9, Binance reported on the first 90 days of its TradFi derivatives. Daily trading volume for gold peaked at $7.6 billion, while silver reached $6.4 billion. The initial turnover for metals was $1.5 million, which grew 5000 times over the quarter.