In December alone, the total value of transactions reached $1.1 trillion on spot cryptocurrency platforms. This milestone was previously achieved only in September 2022 when traders executed transactions worth $1.03 trillion. Moreover, this recent figure represents the highest trading volume since May 2022, when it reached $1.35 trillion.
Binance retains its position as the leading cryptocurrency exchange, accounting for $432.7 billion of spot trading volume, which is 39.3% of the total trading volume. Upbit ranked second with $91.8 billion (8.3%), followed by OKX with a market share of 8% ($87.5 billion). It is worth mentioning that the total trading volume on the spot cryptocurrency market reached $4 trillion in 2021.
According to The Block Research Director, Steven Zheng, the significant increase in trading volume is attributed to the overall growth of the cryptocurrency market and the anticipation of the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in early January 2024.
“Historically, December is not a very successful month for cryptocurrency trading volumes. Therefore, the fact that the figure exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in a year truly demonstrates the industry’s optimism towards the upcoming approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs and the impending bull market,” Zheng stated.
It was previously announced that financial giants including Invesco, Fidelity, BlackRock, Valkyrie, and Bitwise have submitted their applications to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs and are prepared to commence trading immediately upon SEC approval in early 2024.