April 2020 Exchange Review
EXCHANGE REVIEW
April 2020
0 April 2020 Exchange Review
About
CryptoCompare’s Exchange Review aims to capture the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. Our review focuses on analyses that relate to exchange volumes, which include those related to crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by exchange fee models, and crypto to crypto vs fiat to crypto volumes.
We also conduct an analysis of bitcoin trading into various fiats and stablecoins, an additional overview of top crypto exchange rankings by spot trading volume, as well as a focus on how volumes have developed historically for the top trans-fee mining and decentralized exchanges.
CryptoCompare’s Exchange Review is conducted on a monthly basis and caters to both the crypto-enthusiast interested in a broad overview of the crypto exchange market, as well as investors, analysts and regulators interested in more specific analyses.
For questions related to our research or any potential requests, feel free to contact our research department at [email protected].
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1 April 2020 Exchange Review
Contents
About 1
Executive Summary 3
April Exchange News 4
Exchange Benchmark Analysis 5
Macro Analysis and Market Segmentation 7
Derivatives 12
Options 15
CME Institutional Volume 16
2 April 2020 Exchange Review
Executive Summary
April 30th Saw Historic Volumes Ahead of Bitcoin Halving
In April, crypto spot markets saw another historic daily volume record, totalling $66.2bn on April 30th - as Bitcoin soared above $9,000. While this doesn’t match the daily volumes seen on March 13th ($75.9bn), it still represents the second highest volumes experienced on record.
The majority of this figure came from Lower Tier exchanges ($48.3bn), with volume from Top Tier exchanges totalling $17.9bn. This figure once again represents one of the highest volume trading days in history for Top Tier exchanges.
Binance the Only Exchange to See Derivatives Growth in April
In contrast to all other derivatives exchanges, Binance’s derivatives market volumes increased 11.6% in April, to $108bn. Binance overtook BitMEX, which traded $69.3bn, a decrease of almost 40% since March.
Huobi was the largest derivatives exchange in April, and traded $133bn (down 10.5% since March). OKEx followed with $113bn (down 31.4%)
Top Tier Volumes Surged as Bitcoin Dipped Below $9K on the 30th April
As Bitcoin dipped below $9,000 on the morning of the 30th of April, Binance represented the majority of trading volume (BTC/USDT market), trading a total of $15mn at 11am BST. At this moment, it represented approximately 50% of trading volume among 7 of the largest top-tier exchanges.
Binance and OKEx Remained Top Players in terms of Volume
Binance and OKEx remained the top players in terms of volume in April relative to other Top Tier exchanges, capitalising once again on the volatility seen on the 29th and 30th. On the 30th, Binance and OKEx traded $3.6bn and $2.5bn respectively while the next largest exchange (Coinbase) traded $818mn.
3 April 2020 Exchange Review
April Exchange News
COMPANY STORY DATE
Huobi Huobi Launches Perpetual Swaps Apr 1
Binance Binance Launches an OTC Trading Portal Apr 2
Bitfinex Bitfinex Launches Staking Rewards Program Apr 7
Binance Binance Launches Bitcoin Options on Its Futures Trading Apr 13 Platform
Coinbase Coinbase Launches a Signed Price Feed Sourced From Apr 23 Coinbase Pro
BitMEX BitMEX Launches an ETHUSD Quanto Futures Contract Apr 24
Binance Binance Launches a Cryptocurrency Mining Platform Apr 27
Bitfinex Bitfinex Launches a Social Network for Traders Apr 27
4 April 2020 Exchange Review
Exchange Benchmark Analysis
CryptoCompare’s Exchange Benchmark aims to serve investors, regulators and crypto enthusiasts by scoring exchanges in terms of transparency, operational quality, regulatory standing, data provision, management team, and their ability to monitor trades and illicit activity effectively. Rather than drawing attention specifically to bad actors, we instead highlight those that behave in a manner that is conducive to maintaining an efficient and fair market, ensuring greater safety of investors. We have hence introduced the notion of “Top Tier” vs “Lower Tier” volumes.
Historical Monthly Top Tier vs Lower Tier Volume 1400 % Change March/April 1200 -15% -4% 1000
800
600
400 Monthly Vlume (Billions USD) 200
0
Jul-2017 Jul-2018 Jul-2019
Jan-2018 Jan-2019 Jan-2020
Jun-2018 Jun-2019
Oct-2017 Oct-2018 Oct-2019
Apr-2018 Apr-2019 Apr-2020
Feb-2018 Feb-2019 Feb-2020
Sep-2018 Sep-2017 Sep-2019
Dec-2017 Dec-2018 Dec-2019
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 Mar-2020
Aug-2017 Aug-2018 Aug-2019
Nov-2017 Nov-2018 Nov-2019
May-2018 May-2019
Lower Tier Top Tier
In April, Top Tier volumes decreased 15% to $244bn, while Lower Tier volumes decreased only 4% to $857bn.
5 April 2020 Exchange Review
Total Spot Volume - Lower Tier vs Top Tier Exchanges $75.9bn 80 13 March 25000 $66.2bn 70 30 April 20000 60
50 15000
40 BTC Price (USD) 30 10000 20 5000
Daily Daily Volume (Billions USD) 10
0 0
Jul-17 Jul-18 Jul-19
Jan-18 Jan-19 Jan-20
Sep-17 Sep-18 Sep-19
Mar-18 Mar-19 Mar-20
Nov-17 Nov-18 Nov-19
May-18 May-19
Top Tier Spot Lower Tier Spot BTC Price
In April, spot markets saw another boost in daily volume totalling $66.2bn in a single day (30th April). While this doesn’t match the daily volumes seen on March 13th ($75.9bn), it still represents the second highest volumes experienced on record.
The majority of this figure came from Lower Tier exchanges ($48.3bn), with volume from Top Tier exchanges totalling $17.9bn. This figure once again represents one of the highest volume trading days in history.
Categorising exchanges by tier level based on our rigorous Exchange Benchmark methodology helps capture a more representative picture of where the market has moved.
Total Spot Volume - Top Tier Exchanges 16/07/2019 30 25000 22/12/2017 $27.5bn 13/03/2020 $24.2bn 25 $21.6bn 20000 30/04/2020 20 $18bn 15000
15 BTC Price (USD) 10000 10
5000
5 Daily Daily Volume (Billions USD)
0 0
Jul-17 Jul-18 Jul-19
Jan-18 Jan-19 Jan-20
Sep-17 Sep-18 Sep-19
Mar-18 Mar-19 Mar-20
Nov-17 Nov-18 Nov-19
May-18 May-19
Top Tier Spot BTC Price
6 April 2020 Exchange Review
Macro Analysis and Market Segmentation
Historical Volume by Fee Model 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200
(Billions USD) 0
Monthly Trading Volume
Jul-2017 Jul-2018 Jul-2019
Jan-2018 Jan-2019 Jan-2020
Sep-2018 Sep-2017 Sep-2019
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 Mar-2020
Nov-2017 Nov-2018 Nov-2019
May-2018 May-2019
Fees TFM
Exchanges that charge traditional taker fees represented 78.1% of total exchange volume in April, while those that implement trans-fee mining (TFM) represented less than 22%. Last month, fee charging exchanges represented 80% of total spot volume.
Fee-charging exchanges traded a total of $860bn in April (down 9% since March), while those that implement TFM models traded $236bn (up 6% since March).
Historical Monthly Top Tier Exchange Volume 300
250
200
150
100
50
0 Monthly Volume (Billions USD)
Binance OKEX Coinbase Liquid Bitstamp Bitfinex
In April, volume from many of the largest Top Tier exchanges decreased 26% on average (vs March).
7 April 2020 Exchange Review
Historical Monthly Top Tier Exchange Volume - Last 3 Months 70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 Monthly Volume (BillionsUSD) Binance OKEX Coinbase Kraken Liquid Bitstamp Bitfinex
Feb-2020 Mar-2020 Apr-2020
Binance was the largest Top Tier exchange by volume in April, trading $48.4bn (down 24%). This was followed by OKEx trading $41.4bn (down 13%), and Coinbase trading $9.1bn (down 31%).
Daily Trading Volume Among Top Tier Exchanges
12
10
8
6
4
2
Daily Daily Volume (Billions USD) 0
01-Jan-20 08-Jan-20 15-Jan-20 22-Jan-20 29-Jan-20
29-Apr-20 01-Apr-20 08-Apr-20 15-Apr-20 22-Apr-20
05-Feb-20 12-Feb-20 19-Feb-20 26-Feb-20
04-Mar-20 11-Mar-20 18-Mar-20 25-Mar-20
Binance OKEX Gemini Coinbase Kraken Bitstamp Bitfinex
Binance and OKEx remained the top players in terms of volume in April relative to other Top Tier exchanges, capitalising once again on the volatility seen on the 29th and 30th. On the 30th, Binance and OKEx traded $3.6bn and $2.5bn respectively while the next largest exchange (Coinbase) traded $818mn.
8 April 2020 Exchange Review
Top Tier Volumes Surge as Bitcoin Dips Below $9K on the 30th April
Top Tier Volumes on the 30th April as BTC Dips Below $9K - BTC/USD and BTC/USDT markets
35 11:00am 9200 Total: $30.1m 9100 30 Binance: $15mn Bitfinex: $6.1mn 9000 25 OKEx: $3.2mn Gemini: $2.5mn 8900
Coinbase: $1.5mn BTC Price BTC Price (USD) 20 8800
15 8700 8600 10 8500 5 8400
Trading Trading Volume per Minute (Millions USD) 0 8300
11:15:00 09:55:00 09:59:00 10:03:00 10:07:00 10:11:00 10:15:00 10:19:00 10:23:00 10:27:00 10:31:00 10:35:00 10:39:00 10:43:00 10:47:00 10:51:00 10:55:00 10:59:00 11:03:00 11:07:00 11:11:00 11:19:00 11:23:00
Coinbase Bitfinex Gemini Kraken Bitstamp Binance OKEx close
As Bitcoin dipped below $9,000 on the morning of the 30th of April, Binance represented the majority of trading volume (BTC/USDT market), trading a total of $15mn at 11am BST. At this moment, it represented approximately 50% of trading volume among 7 of the largest top-tier exchanges.
Bitfinex traded $6.1mn on its BTC/USD market (~20%), followed by OKEx at $3.2mn (~10%) on its BTC/USDT market.
9 April 2020 Exchange Review
Bitcoin to Fiat Volumes
Monthly Bitcoin Volume Traded into Fiat or Stablecoin 35
30
25
20
15
10
5 Monthly Volume (Millions BTC) 0
USDT USD JPY PAX USDC EUR KRW PLN
BTC trading into USDT decreased 26% in April to 16.1mn BTC vs 21.6mn BTC in March. Trading into USD and JPY also dropped to 1.8mn BTC (down 35%) and 1.2mn BTC (down 35%) respectively. The BTC/USDT market now represents 74% of total BTC traded into fiat or stablecoin.
Stablecoins PAX and USDC followed in terms of total volume traded into BTC. BTC/PAX and BTC/USDC markets traded 0.85mn BTC (up 27%) and 0.82mn BTC (down 39%) respectively in April, beating the BTC/EUR and BTC/KRW markets in terms of volume.
Monthly Bitcoin Volume Trading into Fiat or Stablecoin 25
20
15
10
5
Monthly Volume (Millions BTC) 0 USDT USD JPY PAX USDC EUR KRW PLN GBP
Feb-2020 Mar-2020 Apr-2020
10 April 2020 Exchange Review
Monthly Bitcoin Volume Traded into Stablecoin Only 100%
98%
96%
94%
92%
90%
88%
86%
84% Aug-2019 Sep-2019 Oct-2019 Nov-2019 Dec-2019 Jan-2020 Feb-2020 Mar-2020 Apr-2020
USDT PAX USDC TUSD NGN
USDC and PAX have maintained popularity in recent months, with both now representing approximately ~4% of BTC volume into stablecoins. Despite their growth, the BTC/USDT pair still represents the majority of BTC traded into stablecoins at ~90%.
11 April 2020 Exchange Review
Derivatives
Monthly Spot vs Derivatives Volumes 2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Monthly Trading Volume (Trillions USD)
Jul-2019
Jan-2019 Jan-2020
Jun-2019
Oct-2019
Apr-2019 Apr-2020
Feb-2019 Feb-2020
Sep-2019
Dec-2018 Dec-2019
Mar-2019 Mar-2020
Aug-2019
Nov-2018 Nov-2019 May-2019
Derivatives Spot
Derivatives volume decreased 25% in April 2020, totalling $456bn. Meanwhile, total spot volumes have only decreased 13%. As a result, derivatives represented 27% of the market in April (vs 30% in March).
Historical Monthly Derivatives Volumes 700
600
500
400
300
Monthly Volume ($bn) 200
100
0 Oct-2019 Nov-2019 Dec-2019 Jan-2020 Feb-2020 Mar-2020 Apr-2020
Huobi FTX OKEx BitMEX Binance Deribit CME
12 April 2020 Exchange Review
Historical Monthly Derivatives Volumes 180 160 % Change Mar/April 140 -11.1% CME -46.3% Deribit 120 -55.6% FTX 100 -39.9% BitMEX 80 11.6% Binance -31.4% OKEx 60 -10.5% Huobi
Monthly Volume ($bn) 40 20 0 Huobi OKEx Binance BitMEX FTX Deribit CME
Feb-2020 Mar-2020 Apr-2020
Huobi was the largest derivatives exchange in April, and traded $133bn (down 10.5% since March). OKEx followed with $113bn (down 31.4%)
In contrast to all other derivatives exchanges, Binance’s derivatives market volumes increased 11.6% in April, to $108bn. Binance overtook BitMEX, which traded $69.3bn, a decrease of almost 40% since March.
Institutional player CME saw futures volumes decline 11.1% to $4.5bn.
13 April 2020 Exchange Review
Daily Derivatives Volume - Last Two Months
60 Total: $53bn 10000 12 March 2020 9000 50 8000 $39.1bn 7000 40 30 April 2020
6000 BTC BTC Price (USD) 30 5000 4000 20
3000 Daily Volume (Billions USD) 2000 10 1000
0 0
15-Apr-20 18-Apr-20 21-Apr-20 24-Apr-20 27-Apr-20 30-Apr-20 03-Apr-20 06-Apr-20 09-Apr-20 12-Apr-20
01-Mar-20 04-Mar-20 07-Mar-20 10-Mar-20 13-Mar-20 16-Mar-20 19-Mar-20 22-Mar-20 25-Mar-20 28-Mar-20 31-Mar-20 03-May-20
Binance Huobi Deribit BitMEX OKEx FTX CME bitFlyer BTC Price
On the 30h of April, daily derivatives trading volume totalled $39.1bn. On this day, OKEx traded the greatest amount at $10.9bn followed by Binance with $10.3bn.
Binance has quickly become a major derivatives player in a short space of time, with volumes increasing steadily since the start of the year. The derivatives space has gradually developed in terms of the number of products available across all market players.
Average Number of Derivatives Products - Monthly 100 90 80 70 60 50 40
Average Average Products # 30 20 10
0
Jan-20
Oct-19
Apr-20
Feb-20
Dec-19
Mar-20 Nov-19
Binance Huobi BitMEX OKEx FTX
In terms of total futures products, OKEx led in April with an average of 97 products with positive volume, followed by FTX with 72 products. Huobi added perpetual swaps at the end of March and traded the third greatest number of products on average in April, at 35 products.
14 April 2020 Exchange Review
Options
Deribit Options Volumes
$188mn 200 13th March $168mn 12000 180 30th April 160 10000 140 8000 120 100 6000 80
60 4000 BTC Price (USD) (Millions USD) 40 2000
Daily Daily Options Volume 20 0 0 Jan-20 Jan-20 Mar-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 Deribit BTC Price
Derivatives exchange Deribit traded $168mn in options on the 30th of April. This represents the second highest volume of options traded since the BTC price crash on the 13th of March.
Despite the volume surge on the 30th of April, Deribit’s options volumes continued to decrease to $1.47bn in April overall (down 29% since March).
Monthly Deribit Options Volumes 3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5 Monthly Volume (Billions USD) 0
15 April 2020 Exchange Review
CME Institutional Volume
Historical CME Futures Volume 1800 14000
1600 12000 1400 10000 1200
1000 8000 BTC Price BTC Price (USD) 800 6000 600 4000 400
200 2000 Daily Daily Volume (Millions USD)
0 0
Jul-19
Jan-19 Jan-20
Jun-19
Oct-19
Apr-19 Apr-20
Feb-19 Feb-20
Sep-19
Dec-19
Mar-19 Mar-20
Aug-19
Nov-19
May-19 May-20
CME BTC Price
CME futures volumes have continued to decrease since the March 13th price crash. They have decreased a further 11.1% to $4.5bn in April.
Monthly CME Volume 12
10
8
6
USD) 4
2
0
Monthly Trading Volume (Billions
Jul-2019
Jan-2019 Jan-2020
Jun-2019
Oct-2019
Apr-2019 Apr-2020
Feb-2019 Feb-2020
Sep-2019
Dec-2019
Mar-2019 Mar-2020
Aug-2019 Nov-2019 May-2019
16