Market Share Shake-Up: Binance's Spot Trading Slips to 40%

Tuesday, 07/11/2023 | 10:20 GMT by Tareq Sikder

The exchange's spot trading market share has fallen by one-third in the past year.

Bybit, Bitget, and MEXC rank as second-tier exchanges, holding 42.3% of the market share.

In a recent report by blockchain analytics firm 0xScope, a striking development in the cryptocurrency exchange landscape has been unveiled. The report, released on November 6, highlighted a significant decline in Binance's market share over the past year, attributing it to a possible shift in the exchange's listing strategy.

Binance's Market Share Trends

Binance has witnessed a notable decrease in its spot trading market share, which has dropped to 40% in late 2023 from 62% just a year ago. It means the firm has lost one-third of its market share in the past 12 months. The report also underscored the rise of the Korean crypto exchange Upbit, which has made gains during the same period. Upbit's spot market share surged from 5% to 15.3%.

Spot and Derivatives Trading Volume, Source: OxScope

When considering all crypto trading volumes, encompassing both spot and derivatives, Binance's market share stood at 51.2% in October 2023. This was followed by OKX at 13.4%, Bybit at 9.6%, Bitget at 7.0%, and MEXC Global at 6.9%. Notably, Binance's market share has been steadily shrinking, as it stood at 54.6% in October 2022.

Shifting Tiers in the Crypto Exchange

During this period, exchanges like Bybit, Bitget, and MEXC have risen to become "second-tier" exchanges, trailing Binance and OKX, collectively holding a significant market share of 42.3%. Other exchanges like Huobi, Kucoin, and Gate find themselves in the third tier, having gradually fallen behind in the fiercely competitive market.

While website traffic and social media followers are not seen as definitive indicators of an exchange's market performance, the 0xScope report did note some interesting trends. Despite an overall increase in its base value, Binance experienced a decrease of 5% in its share of X (formerly Twitter) followers in the past year. In contrast, OKX managed to grow its raw follower count by over 200%.

The coming months will be crucial for Binance and other major players in the cryptocurrency exchange arena as they adapt to these changing market dynamics and strive to maintain their positions in the industry.