The combined trading volume of the top 10 crypto exchanges in 2023 reached a staggering $34.26 trillion, a 16% decline from the previous year, cryptocurrency rating and research firm TokenInsight revealed in a report today.
Binance Retained Top Rank Despite Lawsuits
Binance, one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world, maintained its stronghold as the top exchange despite lawsuits and regulatory challenges. The report highlighted a slight decrease in Binance’s market share, dropping from 54.2% to 48.7% over the course of the year.
This dip of more than 5% was attributed to regulatory incidents and the cessation of Binance’s zero-fee Bitcoin event in March.
The report also shed light on the changing dynamics within the cryptocurrency exchange market.
Notably, exchanges like OKX and Bybit emerged as beneficiaries, experiencing a notable increase in market share—4.3% and 2.2%, respectively.
Market Recovery and Influencing Factors
TokenInsight’s report outlined the trajectory of the cryptocurrency market throughout 2023.
The industry faced a challenging start with a desperate bear market from mid-2022 to early 2023.
However, a series of positive developments, including the completion of the Ethereum Shapella upgrade, the launch of BRC-20 Ordinal, and BlackRock’s submission of a Bitcoin spot ETF application, acted as catalysts for market recovery.
Bitcoin’s Rollercoaster Ride and Positive Catalysts
The report detailed the fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price and trading volume, highlighting a rapid increase from $50 billion to nearly $150 billion within a month. The peak of daily trading volume in Q1 occurred on March 14, coinciding with a 16.6% surge in Bitcoin’s price in 24 hours.
Subsequent stability in Q2 and Q3, coupled with positive news, including the successful Ethereum Shapella upgrade and BlackRock’s ETF application, inspired confidence, briefly pushing Bitcoin’s price above $30,000 in late June.
Despite Binance’s challenges, including a regulatory lawsuit and its CEO’s resignation, the exchange demonstrated remarkable resilience.
Even after falling to a 32% market share in November, it swiftly rebounded, stabilizing at around 48% by year-end. This stability, coupled with the absence of regulatory accusations related to asset security, signaled continued confidence from the market and users in Binance.