Crypto Exchange 2024 Annual Report

2024 started with optimism but soon entered silence. The launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs fueled optimism but did not hold for a long time. The market soon entered a consolidation phase in Q2 and Q3.

In September, Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and the assignment of President Donald Trump reignited market enthusiasm and started a new bull run. The fury of memecoin and AI Agent narratives further lit up the market.

Exchanges are one of the most important segments of crypto, fluctuations in exchange trading volume and market share reflect the evolving market structure and shifting investor sentiment. Let's take a closer look.

The data below summarizes the top 10 exchanges selected by TokenInsight and does not include the total trading volume of all exchanges. This is done for two main reasons:

The number of exchanges in the Crypto industry is so large that it is almost impossible to get a complete count of all exchanges.

The top 10 exchanges we selected have about 95% or more of the market share and therefore reflect the overall market situation.

Top 10 exchanges volume reached $76.88 trillion, more than doubled YoY

Q1, with the approval of the Bitcoin Spot ETF, the sluggish market slightly recovered, pushing BTC price above $70,000 by late March. Concurrently, daily trading volumes climbed back above $200 billion.

However, Bitcoin's halving in April did not trigger a continued price surge. Both Q2 and Q3 performed mediocre overall, with BTC price fluctuating between $50,000 and $60,000, while market trading volumes ranged between $100 billion and $200 billion.

The bull run of the entire crypto market occurred in Q4. The interest cut and election in November started the upward trend, with the Meme and AI Agent narratives further lit up the enthusiasm of the market. Trading volume peaked at an astonishing $700 billion on December 21st, while BTC shattered previous records, crossing the $100,000 milestone and reaching an all-time high of $106,074.11.

Top 3 in spot & derivatives: Binance, OKX, and Bybit

In terms of annual cumulative trading volume, Binance maintained its dominant position with a 38.6% share, securing the top spot in both spot and derivatives trading. OKX and Bybit are securing the 2nd and 3rd positions with cumulative market shares of 13.5% and 12.8%, respectively. In spot share, Bybit surpasses OKX, claiming 2nd position with an 11.5% share. In derivatives, Bitget is near the top tier, capturing approximately 11.6% of the total market share.

Binance’s share continued to lead the market; MEXC saw the largest increase, over 9%

In 2024, Binance's market share declined from 42.2% at the year start to 32.7% by year-end, yet it continued to lead the market.

Amid shifts in the competitive landscape of the cryptocurrency exchange sector, Bitget, BitMart, MEXC, and Gate all saw increases in market share. MEXC recorded the most significant growth, with its market share rising by approximately 9% over the year. While Bitget and BitMart did not reach MEXC’s gains, both achieved notable increases, each expanding their market share by over 5%.

Most CEXs’ spot volume share increased, with Bybit saw the biggest increase by 8.5%

In 2024, most CEXs' spot trading volume experienced a significant surge. The Q4 bull market reignited traders' enthusiasm for spot trading, with this positive sentiment being particularly evident in emerging sectors like AI agents and DeSci. Investors eagerly sought opportunities to capture the next 100x or even 1000x returns during the bull run, actively participating in spot markets and trading large amounts of tokens from early-stage, high-potential projects.

Among the top 10 CEXs, Bybit recorded the biggest YoY increase in spot volume by 8.5%, with over 50 assets listed on its spot market in Q4. As the largest CEX, Binance also implemented an active spot strategy by launching Binance Alpha.

For the rest of CEXs, BingX, BitMart, and Bitget remain heavily reliant on derivatives, with derivatives contributing over 90% of trading volume. In contrast, KuCoin and Gate continue to maintain a significant share of spot trading.

Binance maintained its dominant position in Spot; Bitget’s spot share rose by 8.06%

In 2024, spot trading volume grew by 111.42%, more than double that of 2023. Binance performed strongly in the first half of the year, capturing over half of the spot share. However, during the bull run of Q4, its share experienced fluctuations but remained dominant with a commanding 43% share.

Bitget saw the best performance during the Q4 bull run, with its year-on-year spot share rising by 8.06%. MEXC and Bybit also experience a slight increase. In contrast, BingX's market share experienced the biggest decline, dropping by 3.19%, which is closely linked to its hacking incident in the second half of the year.

Binance led the derivatives market; MEXC derivatives share rose the most by 10.4%

In 2024, derivatives trading volume surged by 132.35%, over double that of 2023. Despite some fluctuations, Binance's derivatives market share remained strong, maintaining a dominant 33% by year-end, far ahead of other exchanges.

MEXC and BitMart experienced notable growth in their derivatives market share. Compared to 2023, MEXC stands out with an increase by 10.4%, while BitMart's share rose by 9%, bringing it closer to OKX’s market position. Bybit's performance remained stable throughout the year. In contrast, BingX's share dropped by 6.01%, lagging behind other exchanges.

Top 10 DEX volume reached $2 trillion; Hyperliquid surpassed Uniswap, led the market

As the year drew to a close, the meme frenzy led by Pump.fun propelled SOL’s price to new heights, solidifying the Solana ecosystem as the most prominent Layer1 in 2024. As the top DEX on Solana, Raydium experienced a significant 10.26% growth in market share. In contrast, Orca’s performance was disappointing; despite favourable ecosystem conditions, its market share declined by approximately 4%.

In early November 2024, the announcement of Hyperliquid's native token launch catapulted it into the spotlight as the breakout star among new DEXs during the bull market. By December, Hyperliquid's average daily trading volume surpassed both Raydium and the long-dominant Uniswap, making it the top-performing DEX. By year-end, Hyperliquid's market share reached 30.87%, marking an impressive 27.86% increase from the start of the year.

In comparison, legacy DEXs like Uniswap and PancakeSwap struggled in 2024. Uniswap's market share eroded by both Raydium and Hyperliquid, fell to 21.85%, losing its top position. PancakeSwap’s share also dropped significantly, declining by approximately 8.9% to 3.39%.

DEX accounted for 2.98% of total volume at the year-end, seeing an apparent increase

In Q1, the total market trading volume was around $19 trillion, with DEXs accounting for 2% of the total. As the market transitioned into a stable phase, the volume declined over the next two quarters. However, the data indicates that traders were gradually shifting toward DEXs.

By Q4, with the onset of the bull market, the volume rebounded sharply, nearly doubling from the start of the year. This surge was major fueled by on-chain narratives, such as Solana's memecoin frenzy, the rise of AI-driven ecosystems, and Hyperliquid's strong performance, eventually pushing DEX's share to nearly 3%. Traders increasingly gravitated toward DEXs, so they could act more aggressively and uncover high-potential gems during this bull run.

Hyperliquid volume reached $12 billion in late December, with TVL surpassing $3 billion

Hyperliquid emerged as the biggest winner among DEXs. From Q1 to Q3, its daily volume remained modest, averaging ~ $2–3 billion, in line with the market's subdued tone. By Q4, Hyperliquid surged ahead of all other DEXs, with trading volume spiking in mid-Q4 and reaching an ATH of nearly $12 billion by year-end.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid's ecosystem is steadily developing, which now contains diverse participants such as DeFi infrastructures, token launchpads, and AI trading bots. The TVL of Hyperliquid exceeded $2 billion as of Dec 31st, 2024.

Most CEX tokens outperformed in Q4, with BGB being the top winner

BGB stood out in Q4, gaining 1308% by the end of December, outperforming both Bitcoin and other CEX tokens. GT, secured the second position in price returns with a 213% increase. BNB and LEO also delivered returns that outperformed Bitcoin. Notably, BNB ranked as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by MCap, making it the highest-valued exchange token in the market.

In contrast, OKB underperformed, with its price seeing a 9% decline compared to the start of the year.

Most emerging DEX tokens outperformed old ones, with AERO increasing over 2000%

In Q4, most emerging DEX tokens outperformed legacy ones. RAY and CETUS, Solana and Sui ecosystem's biggest DEX tokens, both saw stronger price performances compared to UNI, CAKE, and CRV. HYPE surged by 300% within one month, after it launched. AERO and THE even delivered more exceptional returns, with THE gaining 500% and AERO skyrocketing by over 2000%.

In contrast, legacy DEX tokens like UNI and CAKE lagged behind, underperforming Bitcoin’s gains.