The total volumes generated from spot and derivatives trading activities on centralized exchanges (CEXs) slumped 12% to $2.36 trillion in July, plummeting to the lowest monthly trading volume recorded this year, so far. The figures are based on the latest exchange review report by CCData, a digital assets data provider.

Trading Suffers a Lack of Volatility

Specifically, spot trading volume sank 10.5% to $515 billion, which is the second-lowest volume generated since March 2019. Similarly, crypto exchanges generated the second-lowest derivatives volumes posted since December 2020. This is even as the value of trading activities decreased 12.7% to $1.85 trillion.

In June, aggregate volumes from both activities jumped 14.2% for the first time in three months, attaining $2.71 trillion. The bullish trend came amidst a new wave of applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds by institutional investors, Finance Magnates reported.

However, volumes slowed in July, returning to record lows seen in the past few months. CCData attributed the decline to insufficient volatility in the crypto market.

“The decrease in trading volumes can be attributed to the lack of volatility in the price action of major crypto assets, with Bitcoin and Ethereum trading in a narrow range throughout July,” CCData explained.

Upbit Outtrades OKX and Coinbase

Meanwhile, in July, the market share of Binance continued to shrink, falling for the fifth consecutive month to 40.4%. The decline persists as the crypto exchange continues to battle regulatory opposition in several jurisdictions, particularly in the United States where federal prosecutors are now contemplating hitting the exchange with criminal charges.

However, with $208 billion in total spot trading volume, Binance remains the biggest crypto exchange in the world. In fact, the exchange's Chinese users recently traded more than $90 billion in a single month, defying the ban on crypto trading in the Asian country.

On the other hand, South Korea-based crypto exchange, Upbit, pulled off an upset last month, beating top exchanges such as OKX and Coinbase to claim the position of second-largest exchange by trading volume after Binance. While Upbit’s spot trading volume surged 42.3% to $29.8 billion in July, OKX and Coinbase saw their volumes plummet 11.6% and 5.75% to $28.6 billion and $29 billion, respectively.

“Compared to last month, Upbit saw the largest increase in market share, with the exchange now accounting for 5.78% of the trading volumes on centralised exchanges,” CCData elaborated. “Huobi Global and Kucoin also increased their market share by trading volume, rising 1.92% and 0.47% to 3.84% and 2.21% respectively.”

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