Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, saw its market share drop to 36.6% in September, its lowest level in four years, according to research from CCData. This marks a significant decrease from the 42.7% share the platform held at the beginning of 2024. In the spot market, Binance’s share fell to 27%, the lowest since January 2021, while its share of derivatives trading dropped to 40.7%, another four-year low.
The exchange has been gradually losing ground since March 2023, largely due to increasing regulatory challenges worldwide. In 2023, Binance settled with the US Justice Department and other agencies over charges including sanctions violations, paying a $4 billion fine. Co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao resigned and served a four-month jail sentence. Under the leadership of new CEO Richard Teng, a former regulator, Binance has been focusing on addressing global regulatory concerns.
Overall, trading volumes on centralized crypto exchanges declined by 17% in September, a typically slow period for the industry. Binance experienced the steepest decline in market share among top exchanges, CCData reported.
Meanwhile, competitors like Bybit, Bitget, and Crypto.com have gained market share. CCData’s senior research analyst Jacob Joseph suggested that this shift may indicate growing confidence among crypto traders in alternative platforms offering similar user experiences with lower fees and higher liquidity.
Despite these challenges, Binance made history earlier this month by becoming the first centralized crypto exchange to surpass $100 trillion in lifetime trading volume, according to CCData.