After ending 2024 with an average monthly trading volume of over $1,5-trillion, the second-highest in the market’s history, crypto exchanges had a wild ride in 2025.
Monthly trading volumes went up and down sharply, showing how unpredictable the crypto market can be. However, despite significant price swings and ongoing volatility, crypto exchanges still managed to post a multi-year high in H1.
According to data presented by CryptoPresales.com, crypto exchange trading volume surged to $9,36-trillion in H1 2025, marking the highest first-half figure since 2021.
Several reasons explain why crypto exchanges saw a surge in trading activity in the first half of the year. The early months were marked by massive crypto price swings, mounting regulatory pressure, and macroeconomic uncertainty, which led to panic selling and drove trading activity to peak levels.
Events like Trump’s tariff announcement and major crypto hacks, including the $1,5-billion Bybit breach, further triggered panic exits. Still, many institutional players saw these dips as buying opportunities, helping to partially offset the retail-driven volatility. The result was the fifth-highest monthly crypto exchange trading volume in the past four years.
According to data from The Block, crypto exchanges processed $2,32-trillion in transactions in January, down from $2,94-trillion in December but still more than double the volume recorded in January 2024. February followed with a 52% year-over-year increase, reaching $1,77-trillion in crypto trades.
However, March took a dramatic turn, with trading volumes plunging 41% year-over-year to $1,45-trillion amid growing investor caution, regulatory pressure, and macroeconomic uncertainty. April continued the trend with $1,28-trillion in crypto trades, 19% less than in the same month a year before.
May reversed the trend, as bullish sentiment returned on the back of pro-crypto policies from the Trump administration and rising institutional interest, pushing volumes up 15% month-over-month to $1,47-trillion. However, activity slowed again in June, with volume dropping to $1,07-trillion.
Despite the dramatic monthly swings, H1 still delivered the highest crypto exchange trading volume since 2021. With $9,6-trillion in H1 transactions, the market outperformed 2024 by 7,5%, 2023 by an impressive 125%, and 2022 by nearly 20%.
Data from The Block also revealed which crypto exchanges dominated global trading volume in the first half of 2025 and how their market shares changed compared to the same period last year. Interestingly, the top four platforms – Binance, Coinbase, Bybit, and OKX – all saw a decline in their market share.
Binance led in volume, processing $3,5-trillion in crypto trades during H1 and accounting for 37% of the crypto exchange’s total, or 6% less than in the same period a year ago. Bybit followed with $722-billion in volume and a 0,9% decline, bringing its market share to 7,6%. OKX and Coinbase also saw modest dips, down 0,6% and 0,5%, with $581-billion and $618-billion in H1 trading volume, respectively. Huobi was the only major platform to grow its market share, rising by 1% year-over-year to 5,5%.