A Secret War Among Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher

Since the 1011 liquidation event triggered a chain reaction, liquidity in the crypto market has remained sluggish, with the main CEX spot trading volume falling to its lowest level since 2024.

Looking at major global assets, from the second half of 2025 to early 2026, safe-haven assets like gold and silver continue to rise strongly, while the AI theme dominates the performance of U.S. stocks.

At the same time, major crypto exchanges are actively laying out precious metals/commodities/forex contracts and tokenized U.S. stocks, seeking breakthroughs by leveraging the bull market in external assets.

The Traffic Dilemma of Exchanges

A report by CryptoQuant shows that the total spot trading volume of cryptocurrencies in 2025 was $18.6 trillion, a year-on-year increase of only 9%, far below the explosive growth of 154% in 2024; although the total perpetual futures trading volume reached $61.7 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 29%, the growth rate has clearly slowed down, especially as a turning point appeared in the second half of the year.

As we enter 2026, the situation has further deteriorated. Data shows that the main CEX spot trading volume plummeted from about $2 trillion in October 2025 to the $1 trillion range in January, falling to its lowest level since 2024.

The market generally believes that the trigger for this wave of liquidity contraction was the 1011 liquidation event. On that day, the scale of leveraged liquidations set a record, destroying a large amount of liquidity and directly leading to a depletion of subsequent spot demand.

The current price of Bitcoin has fallen about 37.5% from the October peak, and the low-volatility environment has led to a strong wait-and-see sentiment among traders, with both user activity and transaction frequency shrinking.

Taking Binance as an example, its monthly spot trading volume for Bitcoin has dropped from about $200 billion in October to the current $104 billion, and even the leading platforms are struggling.

The most intuitive feeling for ordinary investors is that the rotation of altcoins is becoming weaker, meme coin trends come and go quickly, and funds seem less willing to circulate within the crypto ecosystem, with some flowing into traditional channels like ETFs or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

On the other hand, a report from Delphi Digital points out that decentralized platforms focused on perpetual futures trading are developing rapidly. According to CoinGecko data, by the end of 2025, the market share of DEX surged from 2.1% to 11.7%, with total trading volume skyrocketing from $4.1 trillion at the beginning of 2025 to over $12 trillion by the end of the year. Meanwhile, traditional brokers (like IBKR and Robinhood) are quietly capturing high-net-worth users with crypto products.

In simple terms, relying solely on new coins or internal incentives to drive traffic is no longer feasible.

On a macro level, the Federal Reserve's policies, geopolitical risks, and the strong dollar narrative are suppressing risk appetite; on a market structure level, Bitcoin still dominates, with altcoin liquidity deteriorating, and high-leverage liquidations repeatedly undermining investor confidence.

In addition to weak demand, market liquidity is also under pressure. Analysts state that the continuous outflow of stablecoins from exchanges, combined with a reduction of about $10 billion in the total market cap of stablecoins, has further weakened the buying foundation.

The result is that the growth path of leading exchanges has been pushed to a corner: continuing to cling to a pure crypto internal cycle has made it very difficult to maintain scale expansion. The bull market dividends from external assets have become the only visible incremental window at present.

Going with the Flow, Breaking Through with All Assets?

It is an inevitable choice for crypto exchanges to seek incremental growth externally; meanwhile, the on-chain integration of traditional assets is also a trend in the industry.

The trading rhythm of traditional markets has long failed to keep pace with the habits of current investors; market movements never wait for anyone, and real volatility often occurs during weekends, after geopolitical events, or during sudden news in the Asian session.

Crypto users have long been accustomed to 24/7 access and high-leverage opportunities.

Precious metals, commodities, and U.S. stocks, which are truly valuable assets, perfectly fill this gap: users can settle with USD stablecoins and participate in the bull market and volatility of external assets around the clock without leaving their familiar crypto platforms.

This is the key logic for crypto exchanges to find new points of growth amid the sluggishness of pure crypto spot trading.

Since the second half of 2025, as the spot prices of gold and silver have risen, exchanges have intensively launched related perpetual contracts, reaping the first wave of dividends.

Data shows that Binance's XAUUSDT peak daily trading volume once soared to nearly $300 million, while XAGUSDT reached nearly $500 million, far exceeding most altcoin spot and contract volumes.

Entering the early February correction phase, gold prices fell back to the $4,500 to $5,000 range, and silver rebounded after a 30% drop, with the dramatic price fluctuations continuing to stimulate speculation and hedging demand.

According to Coinglass data, the 24-hour trading volume of Gate's XAUT contract during the correction period still reached $300-500 million, ranking among the top three global assets.

At the same time, various platforms are accelerating the layout of non-native crypto asset businesses.

Gate launched a TradFi launch celebration event, establishing a $150,000 trading reward pool. Data shows that since the launch of Gate TradFi, the total trading volume has exceeded $20 billion, with a single-day trading volume exceeding $5 billion at its peak.

Binance is attracting users to trade through fee incentives, announcing a phased implementation of zero maker fees and a 50% discount on taker fees for XAG and XAU perpetual contracts; exchanges like MEXC and Bitget have raised leverage to over 100 times while expanding contracts for forex and indices.

Additionally, the tokenization of U.S. stocks is another structural opportunity that crypto exchanges are targeting. Currently, the "seven sisters" of U.S. stocks and the AI theme continue to dominate index performance, allowing crypto users to bet on the U.S. stock bull market 24/7 without crossing over to traditional brokers.

Data shows that in the second half of 2025 alone, tokenized stocks grew by 128%, pushing the total asset value to nearly $1 billion.

Currently, Robinhood has launched over 2,000 U.S. stock tokens in the EU and plans to introduce 24/7 trading and DeFi features, including self-custody, lending, and staking; Kraken's xStocks covers over 50 tokenized stocks; and Bybit and MEXC's perpetual contracts focus on popular U.S. stocks like NVDA and TSLA.

It is worth noting that the guidance released by the U.S. SEC on January 28 categorizes tokenized securities into direct issuance and third-party models, reducing compliance uncertainty.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev emphasized that on-chain real-time settlement can avoid the trading freeze risks seen during the 2021 GameStop incident. As the SEC explores tokenized securities and Congress advances the CLARITY Act, the current period is a critical window for implementing a regulatory framework for stock tokenization.

Tenev pointed out that although the U.S. stock settlement cycle has been shortened from two days to one, settlements can still extend to 3-4 days during Fridays or long holidays, and systemic risks remain. He believes that tokenizing stocks on-chain can leverage blockchain for real-time settlement, thereby reducing the risk exposure of clearinghouses and brokers and alleviating market pressure during high volatility periods.

How Does This Affect Crypto Investors?

Currently, the market's attitude towards crypto exchanges' layout of various derivatives is generally positive. Many traders believe that these products represent a friendly new battlefield for crypto players.

Essentially, they are leveraged perpetual contracts, with gameplay almost identical to BTC or ETH contracts. The bull market dividends of traditional assets are fully packaged by the efficiency tools of crypto platforms, allowing users to adjust positions and hedge systemic risks at any time.

Many feel that this is the ultimate form of decentralized exchanges: bringing truly valuable assets into a 24/7 uninterrupted ecosystem, freeing traders from the limitations of traditional trading sessions.

However, there is also another voice in the market, suggesting that this wave of TradFi entering crypto may bring hidden harm, even leading to drinking poison to quench thirst.

On one hand, funds are clearly shifting from the spot and contracts of BTC, ETH, and altcoins to precious metal perpetual contracts, leading to further depletion of liquidity in native crypto assets. The original crypto narrative and stories are being marginalized, and the focus on innovative themes is declining, making platforms increasingly resemble all-asset CFD casinos rather than crypto infrastructure.

On the other hand, high leverage combined with the dramatic volatility of precious metals significantly amplifies risks. For example, silver's daily correction exceeded 30%, with liquidation scales far surpassing those of pure crypto assets. This is not merely a friendly tool but directly grafts the original leveraged gambling nature of crypto onto traditional assets. Retail investors, who may have entered with the mindset of preserving value or hedging, can easily end up going all-in, resulting in total loss after liquidation.

Furthermore, regulatory risks cannot be ignored. Although the SEC's guidance has reduced some uncertainties, perpetual contracts and tokenized securities in the secondary market remain in a gray area.

Pessimists worry that once the CLARITY Act advances or the CFTC tightens its stance, precious metal contracts settled in USD stablecoins will become a key target for crackdown. Platforms may be forced to delist related products or face comprehensive restrictions in certain jurisdictions, ultimately affecting the participation experience of global users.