Crypto Exchange 2025 Annual Report

Executive Summary

Throughout 2025, the cryptocurrency exchange industry navigated a complex environment, defined by volatile asset prices and trading volumes, evolving competitive dynamics, advancing regulatory clarity, and persistent security challenges. Bitcoin prices remained relatively strong throughout the year, peaking near $125,000 around September. However, trading volume exhibited significant volatility: total exchange trading volume (spot + derivatives; CEX + DEX) peaked in Q3 (30T), after Q1 (23.5T) and Q2 (22.6T), then slightly declined in Q4 (28.1T).

Market structure remained CEX-led but became more dynamic on-chain. Centralized exchanges held an average 91.67% share versus 8.33% for DEXs, yet the growth of derivatives trading on DEX drew substantial flow after September, briefly lifting DEX share to >25% before partial retracement as the market cooled. CEX’s trading volumes mirrored the broader market, reaching $27.6T in Q3 and dipping to $24.2T in Q4.

In spot market share, Binance averaged 42.09%, while other leading CEXs clustered tightly (Bybit 8.63%, MEXC 8.49%, Gate 8.16%, Bitget 6.86%, OKX 6.83%, Coinbase 6.58%, KuCoin 4.31%). Notably, KuCoin achieved meaningful spot share growth in 2025, reaching 5.83% over the January–December period.

Derivatives were the primary driver of scale and competition - CEX derivatives volumes rose to roughly $23T in Q3 and normalized toward $20T in Q4. Specifically, Binance remained the largest CEX by average market share (34.74%), while other CEXs also grew significantly. MEXC and Gate both showed an increase of monthly market share (more than 5pp) toward the end of the year. Bitget held more than 12% of market share in the first three quarters, and secured 4th position in average market share in 2025. In open interest share, Gate showed the largest jump, from 4.15% to 14.11% (+9.96pp).

Moreover, the exchange industry advanced on a stronger regulatory footing and toward greater asset diversification (including tokenized stocks and gold), while facing material security stress. The report highlights multiple compliance milestones—Binance received full authorization from the FSRA of ADGM; OKX obtained an EU MiCA license and KuCoin obtained a European MiCAR license and completed AUSTRAC registration—underscoring a continued push toward licensing and jurisdictional legitimacy. At the same time, market confidence was tested by major incidents, including Bybit’s large-scale ETH theft (~$1.5B), reinforcing that operational resilience and security remain decisive differentiators even as compliance frameworks mature.

On DEXs, growth was increasingly derivatives-led. DEX quarterly volume accelerated from $1.2T (Q1) to $3.9T (Q4), with analysis attributing the surge to a structural shift towards on-chain derivatives (especially perpetuals), and the emergence of new perpetual DEX in late September/early October. Derivatives accounted for 67.54% of DEX volume, and leadership formed ‘duopolies’ in spot (PancakeSwap: 33.54%, Uniswap: 31.13%) and a transitioning regime in perpetuals, where Hyperliquid averaged 72.10% but saw a structural break in September as challengers scaled.

Key Insights

Derivatives and Spot Volume by Major CEX & DEX

The crypto market is heavily skewed towards derivatives, with major platforms exhibiting a derivative-to-spot volume ratio significantly favoring derivatives:

• Binance sits at the top of the chart range with derivatives as the primary volume driver, highlighting a meaningful scale moat.
• OKX, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC and Gate form a cluster at similar order-of-magnitude volumes and spot/derivatives ratio.
• On DEX, volumes are distributed across many venues. PancakeSwap and Uniswap dominate the DEX spot market. Hyperliquid continues to be the leading derivative DEX.

CEX Market Share

The competitive landscape among CEXs shifted in 2025. Binance still dominated the market with over 35% of market share. Among other top exchanges, most of them have experienced different levels of erosion in market share, while Bitget shows a steady upward trend and secured its 4th position. Gate and MEXC captured substantial ground, with notably growing their share by over 5%, signaling increased competition from other exchanges.

CEX Spot Market Share

Binance continues to serve as the anchor of CEX spot trading, maintaining a dominant share above 40%. Beyond Binance, the competitive landscape is far more distributed and dynamic: Bybit holds 8.63% spot share, MEXC holds 8.49% spot share and Gate are close behind at roughly 8%, reflecting intense competition among those venues. Notably, KuCoin achieved meaningful spot share growth in 2025, reaching an increase of 5.83% over the January to December period.

CEX Derivatives Market Share

The 2025 CEX derivatives market is more competitive than the spot market, with Binance maintaining clear leadership at 34.74%. OKX and Bybit maintained stable market share across the year. Bitget held more than 12% in the first three quarters, and secured 4th position in average market share in 2025. MEXC and Gate both saw an increase of monthly market share (more than 5 percentage points) toward the end of the year.

CEX Open Interest Market Share

OI reflects where positions persist, it often correlates with depth, funding experience, campaigns, and instrument breadth—not just short-term trading spikes. The 2025 chart paints a picture of a multipolar derivatives market. The derivatives market underwent a structural shift. Among the leading CEXs who experienced volatility in OI share, Bitget shows strong stability and maintains in 3rd place; Gate witnesses an explosive expansion, growing its market share from 4.15% to 14.11%.

Exchange Tokens Price Return

The importance of exchange platform tokens increased steadily in 2025, as major exchanges expanded their ecosystems and enhanced token utility. While performance was relatively muted in the first half of the year, platform tokens saw strong acceleration in the second half. Overall, OKB, BNB, KCS, and LEO were the top performers, all outperforming BTC. OKB and BNB both reached new ATH, while KCS followed closely with a 2.06% gain, ranking third position. In contrast, HTX underperformed significantly, with its token price declining by 83%. Looking ahead to 2026, platform tokens are expected to remain core components of exchange ecosystems, with competition intensifying as exchanges continue to differentiate through utility, integration, and ecosystem depth.

DEX Trading Volume

Overall, the chart suggests that 2025’s surge in DEX total trading volume is not simply a function of BTC price appreciation, but a structural shift towards on-chain derivatives (especially perpetuals). Quarterly volume accelerates from $1.2T to $3.9T, and the vast majority of both the average volume increase and the extreme spikes are derivatives-driven, indicating that partial, leveraged trading activity is increasingly choosing DEX venues as a primary execution layer. The key inflection occurs around late September / early October, where BTC rolls over from a local high while DEX derivatives volume explodes.

The 2025 DEX landscape represents a tale of two markets: a spot-driven accumulation phase in H1 followed by a leverage-driven speculative phase in H2. The resulting 67.54% dominance of derivatives volume confirms that DEXs have successfully evolved from simple asset exchange venues into complex liquidity layers capable of competing directly with centralized counterparts for speculative capital.

Perpetual DEX Market Share

The rise of Perpetual DEX is undoubtedly one of the major topics of 2025. The chart depicts a clear two-phase evolution of the perpetual DEX market in 2025: Hyperliquid dominates from January through August (near-monopoly share), but the market structurally breaks in September as challengers scale rapidly. Overall, the market transitions from a single-venue liquidity regime to multipolarity.

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