Crypto Spot Trading Volume Reaches $2.8T in Q1 2023: CoinGecko

Bitcoin has shown immense resilience this year. While the overall rally hasn’t been smooth sailing per se, it holds significance as it came against the backdrop of the banking scandal. This essentially represented a shift in investor sentiment shifted toward viewing Bitcoin as a hedge against banks.

• According to the latest report by the market tracking platform CoinGecko, spot trading volume across the top 10 crypto exchanges was recorded to be at $2.8 trillion for 2023 Q1, increasing by more than 18% from 2022 Q4.
• Monthly trading volume was also on the rise since the $0.5 trillion lows in December 2022 but is yet to hit an average of $1 trillion, a figure last seen in the first half of 2022.
• The spot market activity is usually equated with long-term investors, and an increase signals renewed bullishness in the market.
• Regulators across the world ramped up their crackdown on centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs). Market players rushed to the decentralized exchanges (DEXs), prompting substantial growth.
• As such, DEXs witnessed their popularity exceed that of CEXs by approximately two times. The report estimated that DEXs grew 33.4%, versus 16.9% for CEXs in the first quarter of 2023.
• However, the ratio of CEX : DEX trading volume remained above 90% throughout the same period.
• Binance dominated the spot CEX raking in a market share of 62% in March 2023, even as the CZ-led platform faced regulatory hurdles, especially from the US.
• US-based crypto giant Coinbase, on the other hand, is yet to capitalize on the demise of FTX as its volume dropped by 0.5% in Q1 2023.