Binance led the perpetual futures market with a 40% market share and the spot market with a 32% share.
In the first quarter of 2026, the cryptocurrency market saw a clear decline in user participation after the peak of the cycle in the previous months. This decline in market participation was evident in the trading activity of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Data Gather together By CryptoQuant On stock exchange activity in the first quarter shows that traders and investors focused on major exchanges amid a decline in overall trading activity. Large, liquid places attracted the most capital during periods of strong price momentum. During the same period, perpetual futures dominated the market structure, reflecting the massive concentration of trading activity in financial derivatives.
The market is experiencing a contraction in trading activity
The decline in trading activity was evident in the central exchange’s trading volume, which fell by approximately 48% from a high in October 2025 to $4.3 trillion in March 2026. This is the lowest number it has fallen to since October 2024.
On the other hand, permanent markets, as the main driver of liquidity and exchange revenue expansion during the quarter, rose to $3.5 trillion in March. Perpetual trading volume was 4 times spot volume ($0.8 trillion) last month. At a cumulative level, the permanent volume reached $4.5 trillion this year.
Binance He drove Perpetual futures market with a market share of 40% and a monthly volume of $1.4 trillion. OKX and Bybit followed closely behind, with a share of 19% and 13%, respectively.
While derivatives activity rose as crypto assets saw a comfortable rally in the third week of March, most of the open interest growth occurred on Binance. The cryptocurrency exchange saw the highest 24-hour increase in open interest for both Bitcoin and… Ethereum By mid-March, growth of $829 million and $1.6 billion, respectively. Other trading venues such as Gate and Bybit followed suit, contributing to open interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum futures rising to $23 billion and $16 billion, respectively.
Binance dominates spot and derivatives activity
Furthermore, Binance has consolidated its position as the dominant spot trading venue. The platform led spot volumes of $248 billion in March, representing 32% market share. Although the market share has decreased from 37% in October 2025, the exchange still commands a share three times larger than other platforms such as MEXC (9%) and Bybit (7%).
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At the same time, the market witnessed increasing competition, but without a significant boost in leadership. This means that secondary exchanges like MEXC, Gate, Bybit, and Crypto.com recorded immediate volume growth; However, none of them come close to Binance’s size.
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