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First Mover Americas: Crypto Trading Volume Hits 4-Year Low
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Sept. 7, 2023.
Updated Sep 7, 2023, 3:27 p.m. Published Sep 7, 2023, 12:01 p.m.
This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
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Crypto spot trading is at its lowest level since March 2019, according to digital assets data provider CCData, shedding some light on the soporific state of the market. Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges fell 7.78% to $475 billion in August, while volume in derivatives fell over 12% to $1.62 trillion, the second-lowest since 2021. An event such as Grayscale’s court victory over the SEC last week would have been expected to stoke a rally in crypto prices, but even this failed to spur traders into activity. "The low spot trading volume and the fluctuations in the open interest data suggest that the market is currently driven by speculation," CCData said.
Major South Korean investment banking firm Mirae Asset Securities is working with the Polygon network to advance tokenization within finance. The Ethereum scaling network will serve as a technical consultant to the $500 billion asset manager, which is looking to create infrastructure to issue, exchange and distribute tokenized securities. Tokenization involves representing real-world assets such as bonds, equities and physical assets as digital tokens that can be traded on the blockchain, the theory being that this will make transacting them more efficient, transparent and liquid. Mirae would join other institutions such as Franklin Templeton in initiating tokenization projects on Polygon.
Cboe’s BZX exchange filed the paperwork on Wednesday to list spot ether ETFs of Ark 21Shares and VanEck. Coinbase will act as the surveillance-sharing partner for both products, similar to its proposed role in a large number of spot bitcoin ETFs. Once the SEC acknowledges the filings, it will have 240 days to return a decision, a period it usually allows to go the distance. If either fund is approved, it would be the first spot ether ETF to list in the U.S. and possibly the first such product for any crypto asset. It remains to be seen whether ether ETF applications will meet the same fate of ongoing delays and rejections by the SEC that have beset bitcoin products.
Chart of the Day
- The chart shows Google Trends' values for the worldwide search query "cryptocurrency" for the past 10 years.
- The value has declined to eight this week, the lowest in at least three years, showing dwindling general interest in digital assets.
- Google Trends is widely used to gauge general or retail interest in trending topics. Low values have historically marked bear market bottoms, while values near 100 have signaled bull market peaks.
- Source: Google Trends
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Bitcoin pushes above $90,000 as traders eye change in pattern
Particularly hard-hit in 2025's final sessions, crypto-related stocks are bouncing in this year's first trading day.
What to know:
- Bitcoin rose above $90,000 during U.S. trading hours on Friday.
- It's a notable change in trend, as crypto prices late in 2025 were typically on the defensive while American stocks traded.
- Strategy, Coinbase, Hut 8 and Galaxy Digital were among the crypto-related stocks seeing strong gains.
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