PiCK

Crypto spot trading volume falls below $1 trillion…lowest level in two years

Source

Doohyun Hwang

Summary

In March, spot trading volume at major centralized exchanges fell to $986 billion, the lowest level in 24 months.
Market liquidity has contracted to less than half in six months compared with about $2.5 trillion in October last year.
As the Iran war shows signs of becoming protracted, risk-off sentiment has intensified, driving a roughly $500 billion plunge in spot market volume over the past month.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

According to CryptoRank, a crypto data platform, spot trading volume at major centralized exchanges (CEXs) totaled $986 billion in March, the company said on the 3rd (local time).

The figure was the lowest in the past 24 months, and it marked the first time spot volume fell below $1 trillion since October 2024. Compared with October last year (about $2.5 trillion), market liquidity has shrunk to less than half in just six months.

By exchange, Binance maintained a dominant lead with $255 billion in volume, followed by KuCoin with $63 billion, Bybit with $55 billion, and Gate.io with $54 billion. Coinbase, the largest U.S. exchange, posted $51 billion in trading value. March trading value at South Korea’s five largest exchanges also fell 50% year on year to $59 billion from $118 billion a year earlier.

The primary driver behind the sharp decline in trading volume is cited as the Iran war, which is showing signs of becoming protracted. Analysts say war-driven spikes in oil prices and inflation have reinforced investors’ risk-off sentiment. In fact, since the war began on February 28, crypto spot market volume has plunged by roughly $500 billion over the past month.