Crypto exchange volume falls to 6-month low as traders flee spot for futures

Despite an uptick in activity at the beginning of April, likely due to the market turmoil caused by President Trump's tariff announcements, volumes on major crypto exchanges have dropped to six-month lows in recent days, The Block's data shows. 

The seven-day moving average of volume across exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, Bitfinex, was just over $32 billion on Saturday, the lowest such value since mid-October, 2024. That value has dropped over 75% from its high of $132 billion in early December, 2024. April's DEX volume will also likely clock in at its lowest value since October of last year . 

Even crypto ETFs are seeing declining volume, though not to the same extent. According to SoSoValue data , the $1.55 billion in spot Bitcoin ETF volume traded on Thursday (as markets were closed on Good Friday) was the lowest such value since Mar. 25, while the $178.76 million in spot Ethereum ETF volume was the lowest such value since Mar. 27. 

Traders flee spot for futures

In addition, traders appear to be doing less spot trading compared to more speculative futures trading. 

The 30-day moving average ratio of spot BTC trading to futures trading has likewise dropped recently; its current value of .19, or 19% as much spot volume as futures volume, is the lowest such value since early August, 2024. The same ratio for ETH trading is at .20 — its lowest value since December 2023, according to The Block's data . 

A higher spot trading proportion indicates more real demand from users for crypto tokens; a lower value, like the values seen recently, indicate that more trading is occurring in futures markets, likely more speculative and leveraged trading compared to spot. 

Solana has been seeing a slight uptick in weekly exchange volume compared to Ethereum, reversing a declining trend that lasted from mid-January to mid-March, The Block's data shows. Solana's X account recently boasted that the network brought in 70% of crypto app revenue on one day last week.