Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are eroding the market share of centralized exchanges, with the spot DEX to CEX ratio rising to around 27.4% in Q1 2026.
The stock’s gains came despite a 26% decline in absolute volume to $832 billion, according to ARK Invest’s quarterly DeFi report.
A risk-free quarter for cryptocurrencies
The first quarter of 2026 has been a tough stretch for digital assets. Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply between mid-January and early February before seeing a modest rebound in March.
However, the quarter closed in the red due to risk-off sentiment Fear took control of the market. According to the CoinGlass website DataBitcoin (BTC) He lost 22% during this periodlosing several key support levels along the way. The decline also greatly affected trading activity.
DEX spot trading volume fell about 26% quarter-on-quarter to nearly $832 billion, snapping a five-quarter streak above the $1 trillion mark, according to ARK Invest data. The decline was broad-based, hitting almost all trading classes.
Meme coins fell 32% to $199 billion, and project tokens fell by 58% to $37 billion. Domestic stablecoin pairs fell 28% to $319 billion, but still maintained their position as the largest single category.
“Stablecoin swap volume was the only category to increase (+0.7%) QoQ to ~$185 billion), while token asset swaps rose 83% to ~$4.6 billion, thanks in part to increased on-chain trading of gold and token stocks,” the report said.
DEX share rose to 27.4% in Q1 2026 even as trading volume declined
after The picture was not all bearish For DEXs. ARK reported that the quarterly DEX to CEX spot volume ratio rose 270 basis points.
“The recovery suggests that decentralized venues are gaining share of spot trading, even as absolute volumes decline,” the report added.
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ARK Invest has been credited with improving the user experience of DeFi and its growing list of tradable assets. Uniswap (UNI) She went back up DEX ratings $231 billion in spot volume. The protocol surpassed PancakeSwap (CAKE), which registered a volume of $138 billion.
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this post Decentralized venues pulled their share from CEX exchanges in a risk-free quarter, ARK Invest found appeared first on BeInCrypto.
