Centralized Crypto Exchange Spot and Derivative Volumes Surge in 2023

Trading volumes on centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) have surged since the beginning of the year. Furthermore, the CEX revival comes just two months after an increase in withdrawals and outflows.

The findings were reported by industry analyst Wu Blockchain on Feb, 13. The new data drills into January activity on centralized crypto exchanges.

According to the report, spot trading on major exchanges rose 57.8% month-on-month in January. Upbit, BitMart, and KuCoin saw the largest volume increases, with the first two more than doubling.

Last month, Binance, the world’s largest CEX, saw spot trading volumes increase 61.3%. Additionally, Coinbase volumes climbed 51.2% for the period.

Wu also noted that website traffic on the major centralized exchanges rose 4.5% in January from the previous month:

Centralized Exchanges Recovering

There was a crypto exodus from centralized exchanges following the collapse of FTX in November. Investors got the jitters and decided that self-custody was a safer option for their digital assets.

As a result, billions of dollars in crypto left CEXes during November and December.

In addition to spot volumes increasing, crypto derivatives trading was also up in January. Derivatives are contracts such as futures, options, and swaps that are based on the underlying asset.

Wu reported that Derivatives trading on the main exchanges rose 47.6% in January from the previous month. The three biggest increases were Phemex at 190%, Bybit at 98%, and Gate increasing 85%. The report noted that futures trading on Binance was up 60.5% in January from December levels.

However, the researcher warned that it was unclear how much of this volume was due to bot activity.

On Feb. 13, the on-chain analytics platform Glassnode reported that centralized exchange outflows were higher than inflows again.

Crypto Market Outlook

Crypto markets have continued to decline over the weekend. Furthermore, total market capitalization was down marginally to $1.06 trillion at the time of press.

Markets have been consolidating for the past three weeks or so. However, solid resistance at slightly higher levels has suggested that a larger pullback could be imminent.

Furthermore, the SEC’s crackdown on crypto staking appears to have rattled sentiment.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading flat on the day at $21,849 at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) had dropped 1%, falling to $1,519, according to CoinGecko.

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