Centralized exchanges (CEXs) firmly dominated global crypto derivatives activity throughout the year, as total trading volume reached about $85.7 trillion and average daily turnover was roughly $264.5 billion. Trading followed a “low start, high finish” pattern, amidst tight macro liquidity early in the year and stronger risk appetite later on.
CoinGlass said that the global derivatives market has “solidified into a stratified oligopolistic landscape.”
Crypto Derivatives Trading in 2025
According to CoinGlass’ 2025 Crypto Derivatives Market Annual Report, derivatives continued to serve as the main venue for price discovery and risk management, and peak activity was recorded on October 10, when single-day volume surged to around $748 billion.
Market share remained highly concentrated. Binance led by a wide margin, accounting for over 29% of global derivatives volume, or $25.09 trillion for the year. OKX, Bybit, and Bitget followed suit, and together with Binance controlled more than 62% of total volume.
A sharp drop-off appeared beyond the top tier, as long-tail exchanges held marginal shares and weaker liquidity. Open Interest (OI) also showed extreme swings. After heavy deleveraging in Q1 pushed OI to a low of $87 billion, leverage rebuilt rapidly and peaked at a record $235.9 billion in early October before a sudden $70 billion wipeout in Q4.
Despite this, CoinGlass found that year-end OI still rose 17% from the start of the year. Binance again led in leverage concentration, as it held about 28% of daily average OI, while the top five exchanges controlled more than 80% overall.
Liquidity, Custody, and Risk
Liquidity depth data further validated this dominance. Binance’s BTC order book depth far exceeded all peers, and OKX ranked a distant but clear second, especially for institutional-sized trades. User asset custody was found to be even more concentrated.
Binance held over 72% of custodial assets, with an HHI score of 5,352, which indicated extreme oligopoly. OKX ranked second, while the remaining platforms shared a much smaller pool.
Liquidations were nearly $150 billion in 2025, mostly routine, but systemic stress was concentrated in the October 10-11 event, when combined liquidations surpassed $19 billion in a single day following a major macro shock tied to new US tariffs on China. High leverage, crowded long positions, and strained liquidation and ADL mechanisms amplified volatility, especially in altcoins.
While BTC and ETH suffered moderate drawdowns, many smaller assets collapsed.
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