Bitcoin Spot Trading Volume Tumbles 81% From October, Returning to 2023 Bear-Market Levels

Bitcoin spot trading volume has fallen more than 80% since October 2025, underscoring a sharp slowdown in market activity. The decline reflects weaker appetite for risk assets, though some analysts say it may also signal that selling pressure is beginning to fade.

Crypto analyst Darkfost wrote on X on May 26 that Bitcoin spot trading volume has dropped 81% since October 2025. Monthly spot volume has now fallen to levels typically seen during bear markets, he said, marking the first time since July 2023 that it has been this low.

Among exchanges, Binance saw the steepest drop. Bitcoin spot trading volume on the platform fell to $36.4 billion from $198.6 billion in October 2025, shrinking to about one-fifth of its previous level. Over the same period, volume declined 79.6% on Gate.io and 66% on Bybit.

The macroeconomic backdrop is widely seen as the main driver of the slowdown in crypto trading. Rising inflation pressure and a longer-than-expected conflict between the US and Iran have led investors to shift funds into commodities and traditional stock indexes rather than digital assets. As appetite for risk assets weakened more broadly, liquidity in the Bitcoin spot market also thinned.

The slump in trading volume is not necessarily a negative signal, however. Darkfost said weaker trading activity during the recent correction may indicate that selling pressure is gradually easing. He added that after a previous sharp drop in spot volume, the 2023 bear market ended and volatility and the upward trend later recovered.

The decline in Bitcoin spot trading volume is being watched as a sign of weaker near-term sentiment, but also as a gauge of whether selling pressure is being exhausted over the medium to long term. If volume fails to recover, any rebound may prove short-lived. But if selling pressure continues to ease amid subdued trading activity, the market may begin to find direction again.