Crypto Exchange 2024 Annual Report: Top 10 Exchanges See Nearly Double Year-on-Year Growth in Annual Trading Volume
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Crypto Exchange 2024 Annual Report: Top 10 Exchanges See Nearly Double Year-on-Year Growth in Annual Trading Volume
Bitget and MEXC emerged as the top-performing exchanges in derivatives and spot markets for the year.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: TI Research
2024 has been a year of dramatic ups and downs. At the beginning of the past year, hopes sparked by the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs failed to ignite a sustained rally as imagined; after a brief surge, markets quickly pulled back. Q2 and Q3 saw the entire market enter a consolidation phase, with exchanges taking time to regroup. The turning point came in September, when the dual positive catalysts of Federal Reserve rate cuts and expectations surrounding Trump’s potential return injected fresh momentum into the market, marking the beginning of a bull run. The meme coin frenzy and the rise of the AI Agent narrative fully reignited the passion of crypto traders. As one of the most critical components of the cryptocurrency industry, changes in exchange trading volumes and market shares reflect the evolution of market structure and shifts in participant sentiment.
As a rating and research firm within the crypto industry, TokenInsight has consistently tracked data on tokens and exchanges. In this report, we summarize the performance of the exchange sector over the past year, focusing on the top ten centralized and decentralized exchanges (CEXs and DEXs), aiming to understand annual developments and competitive dynamics through data trends.
The following data represent aggregated figures from the top ten exchanges selected by TokenInsight. This report does not include total trading volume data for all exchanges, primarily for the following reasons:
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The number of cryptocurrency exchanges is extremely large, making comprehensive data collection nearly impossible
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The top ten exchanges we selected account for over 95% of market share, thus providing a reasonably accurate reflection of overall market conditions
Top 10 Exchanges Recorded $76.88 Trillion in Annual Trading Volume in 2024, Nearly Doubling Year-on-Year
In Q1 2024, boosted by the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs, the previously sluggish market showed slight recovery, driving BTC prices above $70,000 by the end of March. Daily market trading volume also rebounded to over $200 billion.
However, April's Bitcoin halving event did not sustain the upward price momentum. Q2 and Q3 saw overall market performance remain flat, with BTC prices stagnating between $50,000 and $60,000, while daily trading volume held steady in the range of $100–200 billion.
In Q4, the long-awaited bull market finally returned. A combination of Federal Reserve rate cuts and the November U.S. election outcome set the stage for the bull run. Subsequently, the meme coin craze and the rise of AI Agent narratives fueled the euphoria, further igniting market trading enthusiasm. Total daily market trading volume peaked on December 21, approaching $700 billion; BTC price also broke the $100,000 barrier, reaching an all-time high of $106,074.11.
Binance, OKX, and Bybit Lead in Cumulative Spot & Derivatives Market Share Among Top Exchanges
In terms of full-year cumulative trading volume, Binance maintained its position as market leader with 38.6% share across spot and derivatives markets, ranking first in both segments individually.
OKX and Bybit followed with 13.5% and 12.8% cumulative market shares respectively. In the spot market, Bybit surpassed OKX with 11.5% share, securing second place. In derivatives, Bitget is gradually closing the gap with the top tier, capturing approximately 11.6% of the derivatives market.
Binance Still Leads in Market Share; MEXC Sees Largest Increase, Up Over 9%
In 2024, Binance's market share declined from 42.2% at the start of the year to 32.7%, yet it still leads the rest of the market.
Amid shifting dynamics in the crypto exchange landscape, Bitget, BitMart, MEXC, and Gate all gained market share. MEXC saw the largest increase—up approximately 9% from the beginning of the year. While Bitget and BitMart did not match MEXC’s growth, both increased their market shares by more than 5%.
Most Centralized Exchanges Saw Increased Spot Trading Volume, With Bybit Leading Gains at 8.5%
In 2024, most centralized exchanges experienced significant growth in spot trading volume. The Q4 bull market rekindled traders’ enthusiasm for spot trading. This positive sentiment was especially evident in popular emerging sectors such as AI Agents and DeSci. Investors actively sought the next 100x or even 1000x opportunities during the bull market, diving into spot markets and purchasing large quantities of early-stage promising project tokens.
Among the top ten centralized exchanges, Bybit added over 50 new spot assets in Q4, achieving the highest year-on-year increase in spot trading volume at 8.5%. Meanwhile, Binance, as a leading centralized exchange, implemented an aggressive spot strategy by launching Binance Alpha in Q4.
Other exchanges like BingX, BitMart, and Bitget continue to rely heavily on derivatives trading, where derivatives account for over 90% of their total trading volume. In contrast, KuCoin and Gate have continued to deepen their presence in the spot market, maintaining significant market share.
Binance Maintains Dominance in Spot Market; Bitget’s Spot Share Rises 8.06%, Emerging as Biggest Winner
In 2024, total spot trading volume surged by 111.42%, more than doubling 2023 levels. Binance performed strongly in the first half, capturing over half of the spot market share. However, during the Q4 bull market, its spot market share fluctuated, though it retained dominance with a 43% share.
Bitget delivered the best performance in the Q4 bull run, increasing its spot market share by 8.06% year-on-year. Other exchanges like MEXC and Bybit also saw modest gains in market share. Conversely, BingX experienced a sharp decline in spot market share, dropping 3.19% compared to last year—likely due to the security breach it suffered in the second half of the year.
Binance Remains Leader in Derivatives Market; MEXC Records Highest Derivatives Share Growth at 10.4%
In 2024, total derivatives trading volume surged by 132.35%. Although Binance saw a slight dip in derivatives market share, it remained far ahead of competitors with a 33% share.
MEXC and BitMart both achieved notable growth in derivatives market share. Compared to 2023, MEXC increased its derivatives share by 10.4%, the highest among all exchanges. BitMart’s share rose by 9%, gradually closing in on OKX’s market position.
Bybit remained relatively stable with no significant change in share. In contrast, BingX’s derivatives market share dropped by 6.01%, clearly lagging behind other major centralized exchanges.
Top 10 DEXs Achieved $2 Trillion in Annual Trading Volume; Hyperliquid Surpasses Uniswap to Become DEX Leader
Toward year-end, the meme coin mania led by Pump.fun drove SOL prices sharply higher, making Solana’s ecosystem the most watched Layer1 beyond Ethereum in 2024. Raydium, a leading DEX on Solana, expanded its market share by 10.26%. In contrast, Orca underperformed despite favorable ecosystem conditions, seeing its market share decline by about 4%.
In early November 2024, news of Hyperliquid launching its token turned it into the most prominent new dark horse DEX during the bull market. Its average daily trading volume surpassed both Raydium and veteran Uniswap in December, rising to the top among DEXs. By year-end, Hyperliquid captured 30.87% market share—an increase of 27.86% from the beginning of the year.
In comparison, established DEXs Uniswap and PancakeSwap had lackluster performances in 2024. Uniswap’s market share was eroded by Raydium and Hyperliquid, falling to 21.85% and losing its top position. PancakeSwap’s share dropped about 8.9%, shrinking to just 3.39%.
By End of 2024, DEX Trading Volume Share Rose Significantly, Accounting for 2.98% of Total Market Volume
In Q1 2024, total crypto market trading volume was approximately $19 trillion, with DEXs accounting for around 2%. As the market entered a consolidation phase, overall trading volume declined slightly over the next two quarters. However, data indicates that traders were progressively shifting toward DEXs.
In Q4, with the return of the bull market, trading volume rebounded sharply—nearly doubling Q1 levels. This growth was largely driven by on-chain narratives, including the memecoin boom on Solana, the rise of AI-driven ecosystems, and Hyperliquid’s strong performance. These factors collectively pushed DEX market share up to nearly 3%. Traders increasingly favored DEXs during this bull cycle, actively seeking high-potential investment opportunities directly on-chain.
Hyperliquid Reached $12 Billion in Daily Trading Volume by End of 2024, With Over $3 Billion in Total Value Locked
In Q4 2024, Hyperliquid emerged as the biggest winner among DEXs. Influenced by overall market sentiment in the first three quarters, Hyperliquid’s daily trading volume fluctuated between $2–3 billion from Q1 to Q3. In Q4, however, trading volume surged dramatically, breaking historical highs mid-quarter and reaching $12 billion by year-end.
At the same time, Hyperliquid’s ecosystem continued to expand steadily, hosting numerous emerging projects across various domains—including DeFi infrastructure, token launch platforms, and AI trading bots. As of December 31, 2024, Hyperliquid’s total value locked (TVL) exceeded $3 billion.
Most CEX Platform Tokens Performed Strongly in Q4, With BGB Delivering the Best Returns
In Q4 2024, BGB stood out. On December 28, its price had surged 1,308% from the start of the year—far exceeding Bitcoin and other CEX platform tokens. GT followed closely, ending the year up 213%, ranking second. Other platform tokens such as BNB and LEO also outperformed Bitcoin. Notably, BNB ranked fifth among all cryptocurrencies by market cap and remains the highest-valued exchange platform token.
In contrast, OKB underperformed. By the end of 2024, its price had fallen 9% compared to the beginning of the year.
Newer DEX Tokens Outperformed Legacy DEX Tokens; AERO Led Gains with Over 2000% Surge
In Q4 2024, most newer DEX platform tokens significantly outperformed traditional ones. For example, RAY on Solana and CETUS on Sui chains posted stronger gains than legacy tokens such as UNI, CAKE, and CRV. HYPE, launched just one month prior, surged 300%. THE and AERO delivered even more impressive returns—THE grew by 500%, while AERO skyrocketed over 2000%.
In contrast, legacy DEX tokens like UNI and CAKE underperformed, failing to keep pace with Bitcoin’s price performance.
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