In September, spot trading volume on centralised exchanges rose 27.3% to $1.13T, a second consecutive monthly increase, while derivatives climbed 15.7% to $3.94T, the highest since March. Spot outpaced derivatives, pulling the derivatives share of combined CEX volume down to 77.6% from 79.3% in August and further below July’s record high of 80.3%. The recovery coincided with a broader rebound in digital asset markets, as Bitcoin climbed from approximately $77K to $83K over the month, though derivatives volumes remained 30.1% below September 2025.
Top-Tier spot volumes rose 29.3% to $816B, lifting Top-Tier exchanges to 72% of total spot trading. Binance extended its lead with a 28.5% spot market share, followed by OKX (6.16%), Coinbase (5.86%), Bybit (4.88%) and Gate (4.5%), with Coinbase overtaking Bybit for third as its spot volume rose 41.4% to $63.6B. On decentralised exchanges, spot volumes rose to $279B, lifting DEX spot market share to 19.8%.
In derivatives markets, RWA perpetual trading volumes fell 19.8% to $413B, the first monthly decline since April, as activity rotated toward crypto-native assets: BTC derivatives volumes rose 27% to $1.33T and ETH rose 47% to $1.03T. Binance led RWA perps with 68.5% market share, followed by OKX (16.6%) and Gate (9.1%). Across all derivatives, Binance traded $1.78T for a 45.3% share and OKX $610B, while Gate ($396.4B) narrowly overtook Bybit ($395.7B) for third. Futures open interest rose 4.5% to $107B.
Download the full September 2026 Exchange Review for exchange rankings across spot and derivatives, CEX and DEX market share, RWA perpetuals, and futures open interest by venue. Supported by Gate.
