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This One Graph Shows Ether Going From CeFi to DeFi: Glassnode
Data indicates DeFi could take a huge bite out of CeFi when it comes to the ether cryptocurrency.
By Muyao Shen
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:42 a.m. Published Dec 11, 2020, 5:29 p.m.
Data from blockchain analysis firm Glassnode indicates that decentralized finance (DeFi) may be taking a huge bite out of centralized finance (CeFi) when it comes to ether.
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- The amount of fees on Ethereum spent on ether deposits to centralized exchanges has fallen to less than 1%, as of Dec. 9, 2020, from around 26% in late October 2017, according to Glassnode data.
- For most of 2020, almost all fees spent on transactions involving centralized exchanges (CEXs) were used for ether withdrawals.
- The dominance of fees on Ethereum spent on transactions on CEXs in total also has dropped sharply in 2020.
Or as Glassnode tweeted earlier today on the data put it:
From #CeFi to #DeFi in one picture.
— glassnode (@glassnode) December 11, 2020
The amount of fees on #Ethereum spent on $ETH deposits to centralized exchanges has fallen from ~25% in 2017 to less than 1% today.
Almost all fees spent on txs involving centralized exchanges in the past months were used for ETH withdrawals. pic.twitter.com/nvzGcwgxcC
- DeFi has been grabbing the headlines since the summer as many investors and traders have been turning to these semi-autonomous exchanges and lenders, mostly built on the Ethereum blockchain.
- At the time of writing, there is approximately $14.18 billion in total value locked in DeFi, according to popular data analytics site DeFi Pulse, a significant jump from around $662 million in the beginning of the year.
- Maker, WBTC, Compound and Aave are currently the top DeFi protocols by total collateral locked; all are based on the Ethereum blockchain.
- CEXs, including some of the biggest players in the space, have also been rolling out news business initiatives with DeFi features.
- In an interview with CoinDesk previously, Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao of the biggest crypto exchange by daily spot trading volumes, Binance, said he fully expects DeFi to one day cannibalize his CEX business.
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- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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What to know:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
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