A mind-boggling figure… $15 trillion is said to have passed through cryptocurrency exchange platforms during 2021, according to a report by The Block. Who garnered the most traffic
The volume of exchange platforms explodes in 2021
The progression was noted in a very comprehensive report by The Block Research, which looked at the state of the crypto ecosystem in 2021. This $15 trillion is for both centralised platforms (CEX) and decentralised exchanges (DEX). If we compare the volumes with those of previous years, the difference is particularly clear:
Volume growth on exchange platforms (Source: The Block)
Volumes were 689% higher in 2021 than in 2020. In the previous year, centralized trading platforms had moved “only” $1.8 trillion.
Unsurprisingly, Binance still dominates this year. The exchange platform accounted for 66% of total volumes, or $9.9 trillion. It is followed by Coinbase (12%) and FTX (6%).
CEX continues to largely dominate trading volumes
A total of $14 trillion was traded on centralized platforms such as Binance, Coinbase or Kraken. DEXs only account for $1 trillion this year. This confirms a trend that can be observed elsewhere: it is the “big” exchanges that continue to capture the most volume, against decentralised competitors that remain less affordable for neophytes.
But it would be misleading to say that DEXs are not growing. According to The Block, trading volume on platforms such as Uniswap, Sushiswap and their ilk has grown even more than on CEXs. It jumped by +858% compared to last year.
Moreover, The Block stopped taking into account PancakeSwap’s volumes since last summer, judging the Binance Smart Chain platform to be too centralized. Whether we agree or not, we can still see that it currently handles over $800 million in daily volume. If we add it to the DEX volumes, the progression is even more notable.
