Binance Dominates Trading Volume but Gets Rekt in Liquidations—Here’s Why

Binance still wears the volume crown, but when the market flips, it’s the traders who get decimated. The exchange’s liquidation engine seems to favor chaos over mercy—because nothing says ’decentralized finance’ like a centralized bloodbath.

Liquidation Loopholes: High volume doesn’t mean smooth sailing. Binance’s aggressive liquidation triggers leave traders gasping while rivals like Bybit and OKX dodge the worst of the carnage. Guess risk management isn’t as sexy as trading fees.

Crypto’s oldest joke? ’We’re building the future of finance’—while replicating every flaw of the old system. Binance’s volume-liquidation mismatch is just another chapter in that tragicomedy.

Binance’s Spot Volume surge shows institutional strength

After months of subdued competition, Binance’s spot trading volume is once again outpacing all other exchanges… and not by a small margin.

According to Wedson, the chart below shows how Binance is nearing a historic crossover: its BTC spot volume delta is on the verge of flipping positive against the combined total of its competitors.

Source: CryptoQuant

This mirrors a similar pattern seen in early 2024 after the launch of the Bitcoin ETF, when institutional appetite triggered a massive inflow into Binance.

Back then, this volume surge preceded a major rally in Bitcoin’s price; a scenario that seems to be repeating in 2025.

When smaller players lead the game

While Binance remains the most dominant player in crypto trading by volume, it surprisingly doesn’t top the bitcoin liquidation charts in 2025.

Source: Cryptoquant

Gate.io and OKX have surpassed Binance in total BTC liquidations, with Gate.io reaching nearly $10 billion – a figure that dwarfs Binance’s $2.5 billion.

Source: CryptoQuant

This trend flips the narrative, suggesting that liquidation dominance doesn’t always mirror exchange popularity.

Historical data from 2018 to 2025 further emphasizes this shift, revealing how the exchange once led by a wide margin but now faces rising liquidation volumes from once smaller competitors.

The real power play

High liquidity leads to tighter spreads, deeper order books, and faster execution. However, it can also trigger more liquidations during volatile swings.

While Binance dominates in size, emerging platforms provide highly responsive trading environments that amplify leverage dynamics. These platforms attract aggressive traders, making them liquidation hotspots.

Liquidity acts as a force multiplier. It dictates how fast positions unwind and who tops the liquidation charts. Often, the most dominant platforms aren’t the biggest, just the fastest.