In May 2024, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX) saw an overall decline in trading volumes by over 20%.
The combined spot trading and derivatives volume on centralized crypto exchanges reached $5.27 trillion in May, showing a 20.1% decrease compared to April, according to data from a CCData analytical report. This marks the second consecutive month of declining trading activity.
Spot trading volumes dropped by 21.6% last month to $1.57 trillion, while derivatives trading volumes decreased by 19.4% to $3.69 trillion. At the same time, May saw a record-high level of open interest in ETH-based derivatives, with a 50.3% increase to $14 billion. This surge in interest was driven by the SEC’s approval of spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S.
Binance remains the largest CEX, holding 34.6% of the spot trading market and 45.4% of the derivatives trading market. Binance’s spot trading volume amounted to $545 billion, while derivatives trading reached $1.68 trillion. The top three CEXs also include OKX and Bitget.
There was a notable surge in ETH futures trading volume on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which grew by 37.5% in May to $20.5 billion, the highest since November 2021. A new record was also set for ETH options trading volume, reaching $931 million with a monthly growth of 115%. Meanwhile, the total derivatives trading volume on the CME decreased by 7.42% to $115 billion.
A month earlier, Hong Kong’s financial regulator also approved the launch of spot ETFs based on Bitcoin and Ethereum, but their introduction didn’t cause a similar market buzz.
