Decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume surged to an all-time high of $613.3 billion in October from nearly $500 billion in September, marking a sharp increase as traders repositioned their holdings.
According to DefiLlama data, Uniswap recorded the largest monthly volume among DEXs with $170.9 billion in October, up from $106.5 billion in September. PancakeSwap ranked second with $101.9 billion, compared to $79.8 billion the previous month.
"Traders are flocking on‑chain not just for self‑custody and transparency, but for liquidity mining, and airdrops driving max engagement," said Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research.
Meanwhile, centralized exchange volume also reached a high in October, hitting $2.17 trillion — the highest since January 2025. The Block's data dashboard shows that the October volume rose about 28% from September's $1.69 trillion.
Binance remained the largest exchange with a monthly volume of $810.4 billion last month, compared with $636.5 billion in September. Gate recorded the second-largest monthly volume at $175.6 billion, followed by Bybit with $156.9 billion and Bitget with $134.7 billion.
The DEX-to-CEX volume ratio climbed to 19.84% in October, up from 18.83% the previous month, indicating a growing interest in decentralized platforms, according to The Block's data.
"One key reason for the jump in DEX and CEX volumes was the sharp market drop on Oct. 10, which created strong volatility and led to heavy trading as investors repositioned," said Min Jung, research associate of Presto Research. "Trading could stay active if new volatility drivers — like U.S.-China trade headlines or macro data — emerge in the coming weeks."
On Oct. 10, bitcoin fell from about $121,500 to $110,000, and then further dropped to a low of around $104,600 on Oct. 17. The world's largest cryptocurrency has since partially recovered to $107,980 as of late Sunday night, according to The Block's price page.
Kronos Research's Liu told The Block that the surge in the October exchange volume was mainly driven by traders pursuing fresh narratives such as BNB Chain memecoins, privacy coins, and ETF-driven flows.
"With momentum back, November's activity could stay hot as capital hunts for the next wave," said Liu.
