In August 2025, the activity in the cryptocurrency market significantly rebounded. Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced increased volatility throughout the month, leading to higher leverage demand in the derivatives market; funds frequently switched between spot, perpetual, and options trading, driving an overall increase in trading volume. For trading platforms, this was a comprehensive stress test: those who could stabilize their order books amid volatility would reap rewards in market share.
CoinDesk's exchange market share data released in early September focused on the combined shares of spot and derivatives, revealing structural changes across different platforms through monthly fluctuations and year-to-date trends. Overall, August became a typical month of "risk appetite resurgence + rising derivatives demand," where trading depth and risk control stability replaced mere trading volume as the key indicators of platform competitiveness.
When examining the market share changes in August within a long-term trend, it becomes evident that competition among exchanges is shifting from a "scale competition" to a triangular game of "scale - compliance - scenario." The data released by CoinDesk provides evidence for this transition.
The data shows that, for example, Gate's derivatives market share rose to 10.1%, an increase of over 4 percentage points month-on-month, entering the global top five; its spot market share also increased to 4.1%, with a cumulative growth of over 1.5 percentage points since the beginning of the year. With both ends working together, its combined share surged to 8.68%, a significant rise from 4.87% in July, placing it among the top three globally.
This indicates that in a volatile market, it's not just the leading platforms that have opportunities; some mid-tier players also possess the chance to "overtake on the curve."
Even in horizontal comparisons:
- Binance continues to maintain its lead thanks to a vast number of trading pairs and a liquidity network, but faces compliance pressures in Europe and some Asia-Pacific markets;
- OKX has strengthened its derivatives innovation and enhanced user stickiness by integrating with the Web3 ecosystem;
- Bybit has deepened its focus on options and high-frequency strategy users, further solidifying its derivatives advantage;
- Gate has simultaneously improved in both spot and derivatives, forming a "balanced" growth path, showcasing its potential in overall rankings.
Compared to these platforms, other mid-tier exchanges rely more on differentiated strategies: some are increasing fiat channels and stablecoin bridge construction to reduce capital friction, some are winning institutional users through local licenses and compliance endorsements, and others are attracting stable funds through structured products and wealth management tools.
Overall, whether for leading or mid-tier platforms, the focus of competition is converging: shifting from merely pursuing trading volume to creating "effective liquidity." Effective liquidity not only means transaction volume but also reflects order book depth, stability under extreme market conditions, and consistency across the entire chain from deposit to settlement. Those who can stabilize the market at critical moments will be the ones who can truly convert nominal volume into lasting market share.
Looking ahead to the next few quarters, the exchange landscape is likely to present a "multi-polar stability + phase-based repositioning." The implementation of compliance frameworks (such as the EU MiCA, Hong Kong stablecoin licenses, and proposals at both state and federal levels in the U.S.) will further determine the efficiency of capital inflows and outflows; the rise of on-chain native derivatives and RWA-type assets will siphon off some high-frequency and institutional liquidity.
For platforms, whether they can convert monthly leaps into long-term capabilities hinges on four dimensions:
- Compliance and transparency: whether they have clear audit and reserve disclosures;
- Depth and risk control: whether the order book is stable under extreme market conditions, and whether liquidation and margin call handling are reasonable;
- Product closure: whether they can meet users' full-chain needs from spot to derivatives to structured wealth management;
- Localized channels: whether fiat inflows and outflows and stablecoin bridges can support cross-market capital flows.
For investors and traders, the focus should be on quantifiable experiential indicators: slippage on large orders, system stability under extreme conditions, deposit and withdrawal efficiency and announcement transparency, as well as the reasonableness of derivatives funding rates. These are the true standards for measuring whether a platform can continuously enhance its market share.
The market share changes in August indicate that competition among exchanges has entered a phase of "depth - stability - usability." Gate's entry into the top three overall is just a microcosm, reflecting a shift in the industry's focus: the market is no longer blindly chasing scale but is gradually concentrating attention on building moats. In the future, those who can convert nominal volume into effective liquidity will likely occupy a more prominent position in the next round of liquidity redistribution.
Related: Vietnam launches a five-year cryptocurrency market pilot with strict regulations.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
