Bitcoin’s resilience has been remarkable this year, considering the banking scandal that occurred. The rally was not a smooth ride, but it holds significance as it shifted investor sentiment towards viewing Bitcoin as a hedge against banks.
- According to CoinGecko, spot trading volume on the top 10 crypto exchanges reached $2.8 trillion in 2023 Q1, increasing by over 18% compared to 2022 Q4.
- Monthly trading volume has been rising since the lows of $0.5 trillion in December 2022, but it is yet to reach an average of $1 trillion, a figure last observed in H1 2022.
- The increase in spot market activity indicates a renewed bullishness in the market, which is usually associated with long-term investors.
- As regulators worldwide intensified their crackdown on centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs), market players rushed to decentralized exchanges (DEXs), prompting substantial growth.
- As a result, DEXs have surpassed CEXs in popularity by about two times. The report estimates that DEXs grew by 33.4% compared to the 16.9% growth of CEXs in Q1 2023.
- However, the ratio of CEX : DEX trading volume remained above 90% throughout the same period.
- Binance dominated the spot CEX market with a 62% market share in March 2023, even despite regulatory challenges, particularly from the US.
- Meanwhile, US-based Coinbase has yet to capitalize on FTX’s demise, as its volume dropped by 0.5% in Q1 2023.
