(Bloomberg) — Trading volume on major crypto exchanges fell in April for the time in seven months while market bellwether Bitcoin retreated from a record high.
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Spot trading volume on so-called centralized exchanges such as Coinbase Global, Binance and Kraken tumbled 32.6% to $2 trillion last month, according to data from researcher CCData. Derivatives trading volume also declined for the first time in seven months, falling by 26.1% to $4.57 trillion.
While trading volume skyrocketed earlier in the year on the introduction of US exchange-traded funds investing into Bitcoin, it slackened amid a tightening of financial conditions in the US, where the Federal Reserve faces the challenge of overcoming sticky inflation. The April 19 Bitcoin halving — when supply of new coins minted on the network dropped in half — was a catalyst for market excitement beforehand.
“Consistent with patterns observed in the last two cycles, trading activity on centralized exchanges typically slows in the two months following the Bitcoin halving event,” said Jacob Joseph, a research analyst at CCData. “Moreover, the higher-than-anticipated CPI inflation data and the escalation in the geopolitical tension in the Middle East have pushed some uncertainty and fear into the market. This coincides with the negative net flows from the spot Bitcoin ETFs, driving the price of major crypto assets to their range lows.”
As volumes dropped, the spot market share of world’s biggest crypto exchange, Binance, dropped for the first time since September 2023. The share dropped by almost 4%, to 33.8% — the lowest spot market share for the exchange since January, according to CCData.
The CME Group saw its first crypto trading volume decline in seven months as well. In April, its derivatives trading volume fell nearly 20% to $124 billion, according to CCData.
“Despite this, while trading activity on centralized exchanges has slowed down compared to its peak in March, it remains at a heightened level compared to the volumes recorded in the other months,” Joseph said.
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