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Binance Says It's Cutting Leverage Limit to 20x, a Day After FTX Announces the Same
"We didn't want to make this a thingy," Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao posted Monday on Twitter, a week after making the change.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:30 p.m. Published Jul 26, 2021, 6:01 a.m.
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Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, said it is reducing the maximum leverage users can use to trade futures contracts, a day after derivatives exchange FTX announced the same change, moves perhaps designed to help avoid the worst of a coming regulatory storm.
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- The new limit is 20 times leverage, the exchange's founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet Monday, down from 100 times.
- Binance imposed the limit on new users on July 19, and will gradually expand the move to all users, Zhao said.
- FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried announced a similar change is taking place on his platform in a tweet posted on Sunday.
- Zhao didn't state the reasoning behind the decision, but said that upcoming changes for existing users were "in the interest of consumer protection."
- A July 23 New York Times article criticized high-leverage trading in crypto as risky. The article implied impending regulatory moves against high leverage margin trading, citing Timothy Massad, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.
- Binance's Zhao acknowledged that "volatility is amplified by the leverage," according to the New York Times article.
- Bankman-Fried said in his Twitter thread announcing FTX's change that high leverage is a small part of positions, not a big contribution to volatility, and that many arguments against it "miss the mark."
- Exchanges are likely worried about the regulatory screws tightening on margin trading. Huobi suspended the service to Chinese users in June.
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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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Gold tops $5,000 as bitcoin stalls near $87,000 in widening macro-crypto split: Asia Morning Briefing
Bitcoin’s onchain data points to supply overhang and weak participation, while gold’s breakout is priced by markets as a durable macro regime shift.
What to know:
- Gold’s surge above $5,000 an ounce is increasingly seen as a durable regime shift, with investors treating the metal as a persistent hedge against geopolitical risk, central bank demand and a weaker dollar.
- Bitcoin is stuck near $87,000 in a low-conviction market, as on-chain data show older holders selling into rallies, newer buyers absorbing losses and a heavy supply overhang capping moves toward $100,000.
- Derivatives and prediction markets point to continued consolidation in bitcoin and sustained strength in gold, with thin futures volumes, subdued leverage and weak demand for higher-beta crypto assets like ether reinforcing the cautious tone.
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