DEX Spot Market Share Tops 24% for First Time as CEX Volume Falls to 12-Month Low

Decentralized exchanges accounted for more than 24% of spot cryptocurrency trading for the first time, rapidly narrowing the gap with centralized exchanges.

The ratio of DEX to CEX spot trading volume reached a record 24% in July, up 7 percentage points from 17% a year earlier, crypto news outlet The Block reported on August 3. The metric was calculated by separating spot trading volume on major DEXs such as Uniswap and Aerodrome from futures and derivatives activity.

The increase in DEX share was driven mainly by falling volume on centralized platforms. The Block wrote that sharp declines in CEX spot trading have led Coinbase and Gemini to cut staff, while traders increasingly shift to on-chain alternatives. Total spot exchange volume stood at $670 billion, the lowest level in the past 12 months, down sharply from an annual peak of $2.23 trillion.

Technical improvements at DEXs also helped expand their share. The Block said advances in liquidity aggregation and faster cross-chain swaps have largely erased the execution-speed advantage centralized exchanges once held, even beyond simple spot trading.