The monthly trading volume of DEX compared to CEX has reached a record high, exceeding 20%.
Trading volume on DEX compared to CEX reaches record high
According to data from The Block, the ratio of trading volume between decentralized exchanges (DEX) and centralized exchanges (CEX) has just reached a record high, touching 20.21%. This means that for every $1 billion traded on centralized platforms like Binance, OKX, there is around $202 million executed on decentralized platforms.
Ratio of trading volume between DEX and CEX. Source: The Block (January 08, 2024)
This figure has surpassed the previous record recorded in July 2024, reaching 14.22%, reflecting the trend of user migration towards decentralized solutions in the context of the cryptocurrency industry increasingly moving towards decentralized solutions.
In the first week of January 2025 alone, the total trading volume on DEX platforms reached $48.72 billion. Leading the market is Uniswap with a monthly trading volume of $14.85 billion, followed by Raydium with $12.95 billion, far exceeding the third-place Pancakeswap with $7.88 billion.
Monthly trading volume on DEX. Source: The Block (January 08, 2024)
Meanwhile, trading volume on CEX platforms has declined by more than 50% compared to just 2 weeks earlier, from $102 billion on December 23, 2024 to $52 billion.
7-day average trading volume on CEX. Source: The Block (January 08, 2024)
Since the beginning of January 2024, CEX platforms have generated over $309 billion, with Binance still being the cryptocurrency exchange with the largest market share, contributing $101.8 billion in volume, followed by Upbit ($33.33 billion) and Bybit ($32.85 billion).
Monthly trading volume on CEX. Source: The Block (January 08, 2024)
Looking at on-chain activity on various blockchains, while Raydium is not the leader in trading volume on DEX platforms, Solana stands out as the blockchain with the highest trading volume in the past month, reaching $113.04 billion. This figure far exceeds Ethereum's $78.9 billion, a difference of 43%, reflecting Solana's superior on-chain activity on this layer-1 network.
Top 10 blockchains by trading volume. Source: DefiLlama (January 08, 2024)
To celebrate this proud milestone, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko shared the record with the "🦾🦾🦾" emoji, implicitly affirming the strong development of DEX platforms and emphasizing Solana's leading role in driving decentralized solutions.
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) January 7, 2025
Yakovenko's joy becomes even more meaningful in the context of memecoins emerging as the most prominent investment trend in the cryptocurrency market last year, accounting for nearly 24% of investor attention.
This is particularly important for Solana, as most of the prominent memecoins launched last year originated from this Layer-1 network since the launch of pump.fun in April 2024. This memecoin issuance platform not only boosted on-chain activity on Solana but also helped Solana's trading volume significantly outpace Ethereum for an extended period.
For CEX platforms, 2024 was a year of great difficulty as they faced a series of hacking incidents causing serious damage. Notable examples include the hack of WazirX with a loss of over $230 million, Indodax of Indonesia losing $20 million, BtcTurk suffering $54 million in damages, and BingX being robbed of over $43 million.
These incidents have severely eroded user trust in the safety of CEX platforms, driving them to seek out DEX as a more optimal alternative. DEX not only continuously improve in terms of transaction speed and cost but have also made significant strides in security. A prime example is Solana, which has now achieved quantum resistance with its Winternitz Vaults feature.
