Binance has been handling more volume than any other crypto exchange, even with US regulators breathing down its neck, according to recent reports.
Binance’s dominance has only grown stronger thanks to a four-month hot streak that started when its rival FTX collapsed. Binance now makes up more of the crypto derivatives market than ever before, with a whopping 63% market share on record.
But it’s not just derivatives where Binance is winning, it’s also crushing it in the spot market. The exchange was responsible for 61.8% of global spot trade last month, up 2.4% from the previous month. Meanwhile, Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Bitstamp saw a monthly decline in February.
However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for Binance. Its branded stablecoin BUSD is in hot water after the SEC issued its issuer Paxos a Wells Notice last month, essentially flagging intent to sue over potential securities law violations. Paxos quickly announced it would stop minting new tokens, and customers have since redeemed billions in BUSD for cash.
Despite this setback, BUSD remains the second-most used stablecoin or fiat pair across centralized exchanges, with 23.1%. However, Tether’s USDT is far ahead with 72%. As for BTC trading volumes, USDT came out on top with a 6.66% increase to 11.2 million BTC traded month-on-month. BUSD and USDC, on the other hand, saw declines in their BTC trading volumes.
Overall, spot markets have witnessed an increase in trading activity in recent months, spurred by comparatively cheap crypto prices. And with more favorable macro conditions, it’s no surprise that total spot trading volumes increased 10% to $946 billion in February, marking the second consecutive month of rising volumes. However, they still remain at “historically low levels.”