According to a recent report from global crypto market real-time data provider CryptoCompare, the total spot market rose by 10.5% in March, with transaction volumes reaching $1.6 trillion.
The document further revealed that approximately 69.9% of the total volume was accumulated by 15 of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, Bitfinex, OKX, Huobi, FTX, and Kraken.
Binance Dominates the Crypto Spot Market
Binance alone captured 30.2% of the total spot market volumes, processing about $490 billion in spot transactions, a 15% increase from February volumes. While this figure is marginally below the exchange’s record market share of 33.7% in November 2021, Binance still managed to dominate the crypto spot market.
Binance was closely followed by Coinbase and OKX, accumulating a spot market share of 5% and 4.7%, respectively. Coinbase handled $81.9 billion worth of spot transactions, down 12% from its value the month prior, and OKX with $75.9 billion, down by 26%.
King of Crypto Derivatives
After six consecutive months of decreased volumes, the derivatives market witnessed increased activity, and its volumes saw a major spike in March.
According to the CryptoCompare report, derivatives volumes rose by 4.58% to $2.74 trillion, accounting for 62.8% of the total centralized exchange volumes, while spot volumes accounted for the remaining 37.2%.
Despite being impressive for the six months of decreased activity, the March derivatives market volumes are still significantly lower than the all-time highs (ATH) reached in May 2021. Derivatives volumes reached a whopping $9.99 trillion during the May 2021 bull market, attaining a market share of 68%.
CoinCompare noted that the derivatives market is recording larger transaction volumes than spot because investors are cautious of the risks associated with spot trading.
“Market participants remain cautious and continue to get crypto exposure through derivatives to hedge and speculate against spot markets.”
Crypto derivatives are secondary contracts that mimic the price of their underlying assets. Most investors prefer to take derivatives contracts since it allows them to diversify their exposure to different cryptocurrencies and safeguard them from extreme price volatility.
Per the report, Binance emerged as the largest derivatives exchange in March, leading the market with about 52% of total derivatives volumes. The exchange handled over $1.4 trillion in derivatives transactions in March, an increase of 8.3% from its February volume.
It was also closely followed by OKX with $446 billion volume (up 12.5%), Bybit with $380 (down 8.8%), and FTX with $295 billion (up 2.07%).
