A new report on February CEX data shows Binance and Coinbase losing nearly 30% of their traffic. Spot and derivatives trading volumes have also declined, reflecting skittishness from retail investors.
Both of these firms ostensibly had positive developments in February, but they still underperformed relative to their competitors. Bearish factors in the crypto market may be leading to a contraction.
Binance and Coinbase Trail Most CEXs
Centralized exchanges (CEXs) are a critical part of the crypto economy and an important indicator of its health. Towards the end of 2024, CEX trading volumes soared to $6.4 trillion in Q4.
However, broader market doldrums are taking their toll. According to a new report, CEX traffic fell sharply as major firms like Coinbase and Binance approached 30% losses.
CEX traffic across the industry fell approximately 20%, making Binance and Coinbase clear outliers. To be fair, both firms slightly outperformed the average of all CEXs in spot trading volume.
Nonetheless, user traffic is a critically important metric for exchanges. It’s worrying that they fell so short of most competing firms.
Coinbase, one of the world’s largest CEXs, fell even further than Bybit in February. Bybit fell victim to the largest hack in crypto history in late February, and the resultant traffic losses began quickly afterwards.
By March, a significant number of its users switched to Binance, but this may not have fully materialized in February.
Still, as CEX traffic goes, it doesn’t seem to make sense that Coinbase is even in the same conversation as Bybit. The firm should ostensibly be doing well as the SEC dropped a major lawsuit in February.
Binance, too, has seen bullish news, opening a community vote to list Pi Network that turned into a total policy shift by March.
In other words, declining CEX traffic and trade volume could be a bearish sign. OKX grew 15%, and Bitget grew 6%, but most of the largest exchanges declined significantly.
This indicates a decline in market appeal for retail investors. Throughout March, weak investor sentiment continued for four weeks, and US investors led the market sell-off.
Binance and Coinbase may have both received positive news, but this hasn’t stopped the broader trends impacting all CEXs. Even if Coinbase ended its legal problems, its new political influence hasn’t helped its position.
In terms of traffic, Binance slightly benefited after the Bybit hack, but its listing policies are still controversial. And underlying it all, the market is in a state of fear.
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