Binance Dominates Q2 2025 Crypto Markets—But OKX, Bybit & Bitget Are Gaining Fast

Crypto's throne is getting crowded. While Binance still wears the crown, rivals are sharpening their knives.

Here's how the Q2 exchange wars played out.

The undisputed (but sweating) champion

Binance's lead isn't disappearing—yet. Liquidity depth and that sweet, sweet BNB kickback system keep traders hooked. But maintaining 50%+ market share gets harder when...

The hungry challengers

OKX's institutional push is paying off. Bybit's copy trading went viral. Bitget? Somehow turning 'rugpull capital' into a credible derivatives hub. All three now clocking 200%+ YoY growth—eating Binance's lunch one altcoin at a time.

The dark horse no one mentions

KuCoin. Still standing despite the DOJ's best efforts. Like a cockroach surviving nuclear winter—if cockroaches offered 100x leverage.

One thing's clear: the 'if you build it, they will come' era is over. Now it's about who can bribe traders hardest (looking at you, exchange token airdrops).

Binance maintains dominant position

Binance held 35.39% trading volume share in Q2 2025, marking a slight decline from Q1. The exchange dropped 1.18% from the previous quarter’s 36.57% market share. Nevertheless, Binance remained the only exchange consistently capturing over one-third of market share.

OKX secured second position with 14.34% market share, posting 1.08% quarter-on-quarter growth. The exchange increased from 13.26% in Q1 2025, showing steady market expansion. Bybit maintained third position with 12.20%, declining 0.80% from the previous quarter.

Bitget held 11.45% market share with 0.14% growth from Q1’s 11.31% position. MEXC posted an 11.45% share, declining 1.58% from 13.03% in Q1 2025. Gate achieved the largest market share increase, rising 2.55% to 7.95%.

BingX recorded 2.17% market share, a 0.17% decline from Q1 levels. HTX maintained 2.64% share, posting 0.51% growth quarter-on-quarter. Coinbase held 1.06% market share, declining 0.62% from the previous quarter.

KuCoin maintained a 1.29% market share with 0.05% growth from its Q1 position. Five exchanges saw market share growth during the Q2 2025 period. Gate led gains followed by OKX with substantial quarter-on-quarter improvements.

Total trading volume reached $21.6 trillion across the top 10 exchanges combined. The volume declined 6.16% from Q1 despite Bitcoin’s recovery to $106,000 by the end of the quarter.

Market conditions drive trading volume decline

Bitcoin rose from $83,000 to peak at $111,900, ending the quarter NEAR $106,000. Most other assets saw limited recovery, with altcoins experiencing sharp liquidity drops. Trading activity declined across many alternative cryptocurrencies during the quarter.

Crypto market capitalization rebounded to approximately $3.46 trillion by Q2’s end. The recovery marked a 28.2% quarter-on-quarter increase following Q1’s deep correction. ETF product inflows and Bitcoin rally primarily drove market recovery.

Federal Reserve rate cut expectations and improving employment data supported sentiment. However, geopolitical tensions and sluggish global growth limited a broader rebound. Ongoing macro uncertainty and slow regulatory progress weighed on activity.

Cautious investor sentiment continued affecting trading volumes across exchanges consistently. For the second consecutive quarter, the market’s volume performance declined. Volumes could stay low in the absence of robust inflows or new policy support.

In the first quarter, spot trade volume was $51 billion per day; now, it is $40 billion. Spot trading totaled $3.63 trillion, a 21.7% decrease from $4.6 trillion in Q1. Derivatives trading stats fell 3.6% from the previous quarter to $20.2 trillion. The average daily trade of derivatives decreased from $233 billion to $226 billion.

Exchange tokens showed mixed performance

Exchange tokens showed mixed performance in Q2 2025 with all major tokens underperforming Bitcoin. bitcoin gained 31.62% while exchange tokens failed to show similar momentum. BNB recorded the highest gain among exchange tokens at 8.91% quarterly.

OKB, BGB, and KCS posted modest increases during the quarter. Most other major exchange tokens experienced declines across the timeframe. Exchange token performance remained closely tied to struggling altcoin market conditions.

Bitcoin rallied strongly, backed by spot ETF inflows and regulatory clarity. Exchange tokens failed to benefit from the same institutional momentum. During Q2, there was a noticeable drop in altcoin market trading activity and liquidity.

In Q2 2025, spot trading share continued to fall on most exchanges. With a 2.70% gain in spot share, MEXC had the biggest growth, followed by Bitget. In the face of uncertainty, traders continued to choose high-frequency derivatives trading in Q1.

The goal of trading derivatives was to leverage market volatility and manage risks. The pattern showed that spot markets had a more severe decline than derivatives.

Binance maintained its leading open interest position with a 23.83% average market share. The exchange increased 0.36% from Q1’s 23.47% open interest share. HTX, Bitget, and OKX recorded the largest open interest gains at 1.19%, 0.71%, and 0.63%.

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