Despite a bullish market and a significant Bitcoin price rebound, cryptocurrency spot trading volumes on centralised exchanges (CEXs) experienced a notable decline of 22% in the second quarter of 2025. This downturn, extending a trend from Q1, highlights a shifting landscape in crypto trading preferences, as derivatives markets show resilience and Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) witness remarkable growth.
Spot Market Decline and Exchange Performance
According to a report by crypto analytics platform TokenInsight, crypto spot trading volumes on major CEXs fell to $3.6 trillion in Q2 2025, a further drop from $4.6 trillion in Q1 and $5.3 trillion in Q4 2024. The average daily spot trading volume similarly decreased by 23%, from $52 billion in Q1 to $40 billion in Q2. This ongoing slump is attributed to a decrease in altcoin trading activity and liquidity.
Despite the overall decline, a few exchanges managed to buck the trend. MEXC recorded the largest gain in spot trading market share, increasing by 2.7%, while Bitget saw a modest rise of approximately 0.7%. TokenInsight projects that spot trading volume will remain subdued in Q3 2025, fluctuating between $3 trillion and $3.5 trillion, due to economic uncertainty, limited liquidity, and weak altcoin trading.
Derivatives Market Shows Resilience
In contrast to the tumbling spot markets, crypto derivatives proved relatively resilient in Q2 2025. Derivatives trading volume totalled $20.2 trillion, a slight dip of 3.6% from $20.9 trillion in Q1. This resilience suggests that traders continue to favour high-frequency derivatives trading to hedge risks and leverage market volatility amidst ongoing uncertainty.
Even though market sentiment was briefly boosted in early April by the Federal Reserve’s decision to pause rate hikes, concerns over a global economic slowdown and geopolitical tensions continued to influence investor behaviour, pushing traders towards derivatives.
Bitcoin ETFs Shine as CEX Volumes Dip
While CEX spot volumes declined, crypto Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) experienced significant growth in Q2. Major issuers, such as BlackRock, reported a staggering 370% surge in inflows compared to the previous quarter. This success is part of a broader trend in global crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), which attracted $17.8 billion in inflows during the first half of 2025, with nearly $15 billion coming from BlackRock alone.
Driven by these rising inflows into Bitcoin funds and increasing corporate adoption, Bitcoin’s price strongly rebounded in Q2, surging 25% over the quarter, a sharp reversal from its 12% decline in Q1. This suggests a growing preference for regulated and institutional investment vehicles for Bitcoin exposure, rather than direct spot trading on centralised exchanges, impacting exchange tokens that remain closely tied to the struggling altcoin market.
