By the end of 2025, trading volume on the spot cryptocurrency market reached $18.6 trillion, a 9% increase from $17 trillion in 2024, according to a report by CryptoQuant.

2025 crypto exchange activity in review.

Spot volume reached $18.6T (+9% YoY) while perpetuals surged to $61.7T (+29%), with Binance dominating spot, BTC perps, liquidity, and reserves.

Growth is derivative-led, and market power continues to concentrate at the top. pic.twitter.com/Om8udJJ9Qv

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) January 12, 2026

Analysts noted a significant slowdown in growth, as the sector had previously shown a 154% increase the year before.

The market experienced a divergence, with participant activity shifting towards derivatives. Trading volume for perpetual futures rose by 29% to $61.7 trillion, which is $13.8 trillion more than in 2024.

Binance's Dominance and MEXC's Success

Binance remained the leader in the spot segment, processing nearly $7 trillion in transactions during the 2025 fiscal year, capturing 41% of the market among the top 10 centralized exchanges. The platform maintained its lead in Bitcoin and altcoin pairs, demonstrating high liquidity in trading ETH, XRP, BNB, TRX, and SOL.

The second tier included Bybit, MEXC, and Crypto.com, with volumes of approximately $1.5 trillion, $1.4 trillion, and $1.3 trillion, respectively. MEXC showed the best performance, nearly doubling its figures from 2024.

Power Dynamics in Derivatives

In the Bitcoin futures sector, Binance also held the top spot with a turnover of $25.4 trillion (42% of the top 10 platforms). The exchange's dominance increased by 20% compared to 2024.

The following platforms ranked:

  • OKX: $11.3 trillion (18.5% share);
  • Bybit: $9.6 trillion (15.8%);
  • Bitget: $6.4 trillion (10.6%).

A new significant player emerged in the decentralized platform Hyperliquid, which captured 3.7% of the market with a turnover of $2.2 trillion. The remaining platforms, including Coinbase International, HTX, and Deribit, accounted for about 10% of the total volume.

Reserves and Stablecoins

Liquidity in stablecoins remains highly concentrated. Binance holds $47.6 billion in USDT and USDC, which is 72% of all reserves among the top 10 exchanges. In early November 2025, the exchange's reserves reached a record $51 billion, growing by 51% over the year.

OKX ranked second with $9.3 billion (14%), followed by MEXC with $2.2 billion (3%). Reserves for Bybit, Kraken, and Coinbase were each below $2 billion.

In terms of total assets (BTC, ETH, and stablecoins), over half of the market is controlled by two giants:

  • Binance: $117 billion (31.8%);
  • Coinbase: $81 billion (22.1%).

Bitfinex secured the third position with $44.4 billion. The figures for other participants like OKX, Upbit, and Kraken are significantly lower, highlighting the gap between the leaders and the rest of the market.

According to the report, Binance led in the number of deposits and withdrawals, processing over 1.6 million transfers in altcoins. Coinbase ranked second in transaction volume (1.2 million), but its statistics were dominated by withdrawals, indicating a net outflow of user assets.

Notably, CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain suggested a potential reversal for Bitcoin amid a decline in open interest.