Crypto trading volume dropped in second quarter to lowest since 2019

TRADING volume on cryptocurrency exchanges in the three months ended in June was the lowest since the final quarter of 2019 despite a jump in activity during the final weeks of last month.

Volume on so-called centralised exchanges rose 16.4 per cent to US$575 billion in June, the first increase in three months, according to a report from researcher CCData. Overall, trading volume fell 40 per cent to US$1.7 trillion from the first quarter, and was down 62 per cent compared with the year-earlier period, the researcher said.

Meanwhile, Binance’s market share of non-derivatives trading volume declined for the fourth consecutive month, dropping 1.4 per cent to 42 per cent in June. The biggest crypto platform’s market share fell the most among centralised exchanges, and it registered the lowest market share since August 2022. Binance stopped offering some popular trading pairs, contributing to the decline.

At the start of June, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance, its chief executive officer Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Binance.US, which he also owns, for breaking US securities laws. Binance has called the complaint “disappointing”, and said it plans to mount a vigorous defence.

Binance.US also saw its market share decline by 0.86 per cent to 0.36 per cent, according to CCData. Coinbase Global’s market share declined the least among major exchanges, falling by 0.08 per cent to 5.36 per cent, “hinting at increased US institutional trading activity on the exchange following BlackRock’s ETF filing” late in the month, the researcher said. Coinbase has been listed as providing market surveillance, custody or other services to the flurry of recent ETF applicants.

Coinbase represents 61 per cent of the Bitcoin trading volumes among exchanges registered in the US, according to CCData. It accounted for 5.83 per cent of the global Bitcoin trading volumes, the researcher said. The SEC also sued Coinbase for securities violations in June. BLOOMBERG