Crypto Trading Dropped 43% in Q2 Despite Climbing Bitcoin, Ethereum Prices

Spot trading volumes on centralized crypto exchanges plummeted by 43% in the second quarter of 2022, new data from CoinGecko suggests.

And Binance—which has been slashing jobs as it retreats from key markets and faces civil charges in the U.S.—was especially hard hit.

CoinGecko’s report covering Q2 indicates that the world’s biggest exchange has seen its dominance slide from 62% to 51% in just three months—a sign that Changpeng Zhao’s constant cries of “FUD” aren’t washing with crypto traders.

The contraction in trading volumes, which was also seen on decentralized exchanges, comes despite a 7% uptick in Bitcoin’s price throughout the quarter.

Binance’s woes also extended to the stablecoin markets, with BUSD losing 45.4% of its market cap between April and June after the embattled exchange made True USD (TUSD) its default stablecoin. The switch saw TUSD become the biggest gainer of the quarter after $1 billion was minted on the Tron network—that’s a 50% rise. Tether remains firmly at the top of the list, and concluded the quarter with a 66% share of the stablecoin market.

According to CoinGecko, things are also looking gloomy in the NFT sector, despite Bitcoin Ordinals reigniting interest in crypto collectibles. Bored Ape Yacht Club prices have recently sunk to a two-year low, down 88% from their peak in a torrid time for top-tier projects. Trading volumes among all NFTs fell 35% to $3.15 billion in Q2. And Solana—which has been rocked by multiple outages in recent years—saw demand crater by a jaw-dropping 79% as flagship collections migrated to Ethereum and Polygon.

There was better news for Ethereum, which has largely shrugged off the threat of Bitcoin Ordinals. CoinGecko’s data says 83% of NFT trading occurred via its blockchain over the quarter—but there is a chance this could start to erode as 2023 continues.

And despite withdrawals of staked ETH being activated after a years-long wait, the total amount of Ethereum locked up by validators rallied by 30% in the second quarter—hitting just shy of 24 million as a result. That’s worth close to $45 billion at current market rates, and indicates crypto enthusiasts are keen to get involved in staking now there’s certainty over retrieving locked-up funds.