In the first half of 2025, the global macroeconomic environment remained highly volatile. The Federal Reserve repeatedly paused interest rate cuts, signaling that its monetary policy had entered a “wait-and-see tug-of-war” phase. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s escalation of tariffs and intensification of geopolitical conflicts further fractured global risk appetite structures. Against this backdrop, the cryptocurrency derivatives market continued the strong momentum observed at the end of 2024, reaching new record highs in overall scale.
After BTC surged to a new all-time high of $111K at the beginning of the year and subsequently entered a consolidation phase, the global open interest (OI) in BTC derivatives grew significantly. Between January and June, aggregate BTC derivatives OI jumped from approximately $60 billion to a peak exceeding $70 billion. As of June, although BTC prices remained relatively stable around the $100K mark, the derivatives market experienced several waves of long and short liquidations, resulting in the release of leverage risks and contributing to a relatively healthy market structure.
Looking ahead to Q3 and Q4, this report expects that, driven by macroeconomic developments (such as shifts in U.S. interest rate policy) and increased institutional participation, the derivatives market will continue to expand in scale. Volatility is likely to remain subdued, but risk indicators will require ongoing monitoring. We maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook regarding further upward movement in BTC prices.
Market Overview
Market Summary
In the first and second quarters of 2025, BTC prices experienced significant volatility. At the beginning of the year, BTC reached a high of $110K in January, but subsequently declined to around $75K in April—a drop of approximately 30%. However, as market sentiment improved and institutional investor interest remained strong, BTC prices rebounded in May, reaching a new peak of $112K. By June, prices had stabilized around $107K.At the same time, BTC’s market dominance continued to strengthen throughout the first half of 2025. According to data from TradingView, BTC’s market dominance reached 60% by the end of Q1, the highest level since 2021. This upward trend persisted in Q2, with market dominance surpassing 65%, indicating a clear investor preference for BTC.
Institutional interest in BTC also continued to rise, as evidenced by persistent inflows into BTC spot ETFs. The total assets under management (AUM) of these ETFs exceeded $130 billion. In addition, several global macroeconomic factors—such as the decline of the U.S. Dollar Index and growing distrust in the traditional financial system—have further enhanced BTC’s appeal as a store of value.
In the first half of 2025, ETH’s overall performance was disappointing. Although ETH briefly touched a high of around $3,700 at the beginning of the year, it soon experienced a sharp correction. By April, ETH had dropped below $1,400 at its lowest point—a decline of more than 60%. The subsequent price recovery in May was limited, and even with positive technical developments (such as the Pectra upgrade), ETH only rebounded to around $2,700, failing to reclaim its early-year highs. As of June 1, ETH stabilized at approximately $2,500, down nearly 30% from the yearly high, showing little sign of a strong and sustained recovery.
The divergence between ETH and BTC was particularly notable. While BTC rebounded and its market dominance continued to increase, ETH failed to rally in tandem and instead demonstrated pronounced weakness. This is reflected in the significant decline of the ETH/BTC ratio—from 0.036 at the start of the year to a low of about 0.017, a drop of over 50%. Such divergence highlights a marked decline in market confidence toward ETH. Looking ahead to the third and fourth quarters of 2025, the anticipated approval of ETH spot ETF staking mechanisms could revive market risk appetite and improve overall sentiment.
The overall weakness in the altcoin market was even more pronounced. According to data from CoinGlass, although some leading altcoins—such as Solana—experienced brief rallies at the beginning of the year, they subsequently underwent sustained corrections. SOL, for instance, fell from a high of around $295 to a low of approximately $113 in April, a drop of over 60%. Most other major altcoins (such as Avalanche, Polkadot, and ADA) also suffered similar or even greater declines, with some altcoins dropping by more than 90% from their peaks. This trend underscores a heightened risk-averse sentiment toward high-risk assets in the market.
Against this backdrop, BTC’s status as a risk-hedging asset has been significantly reinforced. Its role is evolving from a “speculative instrument” to an “institutional allocation/macro asset.” In contrast, ETH and altcoins remain primarily characterized as “crypto-native capital, retail speculation, and DeFi-driven assets,” making their positioning more akin to technology stocks. The persistent weakness in ETH and the broader altcoin market can be attributed to diminished investor risk appetite, intensifying competition, as well as the influence of macroeconomic and regulatory factors. Except for a few layer-1 ecosystems (such as Solana) that continue to expand, the altcoin market overall lacks clear technological innovation or new large-scale application scenarios to drive sustained investor interest.
In the short term, given the liquidity constraints at the macro level, unless there are strong new ecosystem developments or technological breakthroughs, the weak momentum in ETH and the altcoin market is unlikely to be reversed. Investor sentiment toward altcoins remains cautious and conservative.
BTC/ETH Derivatives Open Interest and Leverage Trends
BTC’s total open interest (OI) in derivatives reached new highs in the first half of 2025. Driven by massive capital inflows into spot ETFs and robust demand for futures, BTC futures OI climbed further, surpassing $70 billion in May.
It is noteworthy that the market share of traditional regulated exchanges such as CME has risen rapidly. As of June 1, according to CoinGlass data, open interest in CME BTC futures reached 158,300 BTC (approximately $16.5 billion), ranking first among all exchanges and surpassing Binance’s 118,700 BTC (approximately $12.3 billion) during the same period. This reflects the increasing participation of institutional investors through regulated channels, with CME and ETFs serving as major sources of incremental demand. While Binance remains the largest crypto-native exchange by open interest, its market share has been diluted.
On the ETH side, open interest also hit a record high in the first half of 2025, similar to BTC, with ETH futures OI exceeding $30 billion in May. As of June 1, CoinGlass data shows that Binance ranked first among exchanges for ETH futures open interest, with 2.354 million ETH (about $6 billion) outstanding.
Overall, leverage usage among exchange users became more rational in the first half of the year. Although aggregate open interest across the market increased, several episodes of sharp volatility helped flush out excessively leveraged positions, preventing average user leverage from spiraling out of control. Notably, after periods of market turbulence in February and April, exchanges maintained relatively ample margin reserves. As a result, while market-wide leverage ratios occasionally spiked, they did not exhibit a sustained upward trend.
Analysis of the CoinGlass Derivatives Index (CGDI)
The CoinGlass Derivatives Index (CGDI) serves as a key indicator for tracking the price performance of the global crypto derivatives market. Currently, over 80% of trading volume in the crypto market is derived from derivatives contracts, while mainstream spot indices are unable to effectively capture the core market pricing mechanisms. CGDI addresses this gap by dynamically tracking the prices of the top 100 mainstream cryptocurrency perpetual contracts by open interest (OI). It employs a value-weighted methodology based on the open interest of each contract, thereby constructing a real-time, highly representative indicator that reflects prevailing trends in the derivatives market.
In the first half of the year, the CGDI displayed a divergent trend relative to BTC price movements. While BTC surged and maintained its position near all-time highs—driven largely by institutional buying—CGDI began to decline from February onward. This drop can be attributed to the underperformance of other major derivative assets. Since CGDI is calculated using open interest-weighted prices of mainstream derivative contracts, the strong performance of BTC alone was insufficient to offset the weakness in ETH and altcoin futures, thereby dragging down the overall index.
In short, capital flows in the first half of the year were heavily concentrated in BTC. BTC’s sustained strength was mainly supported by long-term institutional accumulation and the impact of spot ETFs, leading to a rise in its market dominance. In contrast, waning speculative enthusiasm and capital outflows from the altcoin sector caused CGDI to fall even as BTC prices remained elevated. This divergence reflects a shift in investor risk appetite: ETF-driven tailwinds and safe-haven demand prompted funds to flow into large-cap assets such as BTC, while regulatory uncertainty and profit-taking put pressure on secondary assets and the broader altcoin market.
Analysis of the CoinGlass Derivatives Risk Index (CDRI)
The CoinGlass Derivatives Risk Index (CDRI) serves as a key indicator for measuring the intensity of risk in the crypto derivatives market. It is designed to quantitatively capture the current level of leverage usage, trading sentiment, and systemic liquidation risk. CDRI places particular emphasis on forward-looking risk warnings, issuing early alerts when market structures begin to deteriorate—even if prices are still rising, the index may signal a high-risk state.
CDRI achieves this by conducting a weighted analysis across multiple dimensions, including open interest, funding rates, leverage ratios, long-short ratios, contract volatility, and liquidation volumes. Through this multifactor methodology, the index provides a real-time, comprehensive risk profile of the crypto derivatives market. CDRI employs a standardized scoring model ranging from 0 to 100, with higher values indicating that the market is approaching an overheated or fragile state and is thus
more susceptible to systemic liquidations.
Throughout the first half of the year, the CoinGlass Derivatives Risk Index (CDRI) generally remained at a neutral to slightly elevated level. As of June 1, the CDRI stood at 58, falling within the "moderate risk/volatility neutral" range. This indicates that the market was neither significantly overheated nor in a state of panic, and that short-term risks were considered manageable.
Cryptocurrency Derivatives Data Analysis
Analysis of Perpetual Contract Funding Rates
Changes in funding rates directly reflect the use of leverage in the market. A positive funding rate typically indicates an increase in long positions and bullish market sentiment, while a negative funding rate may signal rising short pressure and a shift toward more cautious sentiment. Fluctuations in funding rates serve as a reminder for investors to pay close attention to leverage risks, especially during periods of rapid shifts in market sentiment.
In the first half of 2025, the perpetual contracts market for cryptocurrencies was generally dominated by long positions, with funding rates remaining positive for most of the period. The funding rates for major crypto assets consistently stayed above the baseline level of 0.01%, indicating a broadly bullish market sentiment. During this time, investors maintained an optimistic outlook on the market, driving an increase in long positions. However, as long positions became crowded and profit-taking pressures intensified, BTC experienced a pullback after reaching new highs in late January, and funding rates subsequently normalized.
Entering the second quarter, market sentiment returned to a more rational state. From April to June, funding rates mostly stayed below 0.01% (equivalent to an annualized rate of around 11%), and occasionally even turned negative. This indicates a fading speculative frenzy and a move toward equilibrium between long and short positions. According to CoinGlass data, instances of funding rates switching from positive to negative were quite limited, suggesting that concentrated bearish sentiment was infrequent.
Notably, during the sharp market decline triggered by Trump’s tariff announcement in early February, BTC perpetual funding rates briefly turned negative, reflecting a localized extreme in bearish sentiment. A similar pattern occurred in mid-April, when BTC rapidly dropped to around $75K and funding rates again briefly turned negative, highlighting a surge in panic-driven short positions. In mid-June, geopolitical shocks caused funding rates to fall into negative territory for a third time. Apart from these isolated episodes, funding rates remained positive for most of the first half of the year, underscoring a prevailing bullish bias in the market.
The trend observed in the first half of 2025 was consistent with that of 2024: negative funding rates were rare and each occurrence coincided with sharp sentiment reversals in the market. As such, the number of positive-to-negative funding rate switches can serve as a signal for market sentiment inflection points—indeed, the few such switches this year precisely corresponded to key market turning points.
Analysis of Options Market Data
In the first half of 2025, both the scale and depth of the BTC options market increased significantly, with trading activity repeatedly reaching new highs. As of June 1, 2025, the crypto options market remained highly concentrated among a few leading exchanges, primarily Deribit, OKX, and Binance. Deribit continued to maintain an absolute leading position, accounting for over 60% of the total market share, and serving as the central hub for BTC and ETH options liquidity—especially among high-net-worth individuals and institutional participants. This dominance is attributed to Deribit’s diverse product offerings, robust liquidity, and mature risk management.
Meanwhile, Binance and OKX have seen slight increases in their options market shares. As these platforms continue to enhance their options product suites, the market share among top exchanges is expected to become more distributed. However, Deribit’s leading position is unlikely to be challenged within 2025. On-chain DeFi protocol-based options (such as Lyra, Premia, etc.) have also seen some growth in market share, but their overall scale remains limited.
According to CoinGlass statistics, global BTC options open interest reached an all-time high of approximately $49.3 billion on May 30, 2025. Despite stabilization in the spot market and declining volatility, options open interest continued to rise, clearly indicating heightened demand for cross-period positioning and risk hedging among investors.
In terms of implied volatility (IV), the first half of the year saw an initial decline followed by a period of stabilization. As the spot market entered a phase of high-level consolidation, options IV dropped significantly compared to the previous year. In May, the 30-day implied volatility for BTC fell to multi-year lows, reflecting market expectations of limited short-term price swings. This stands in stark contrast to the enormous open interest: on one hand, a record volume of options positions; on the other, historically low volatility. This dynamic suggests that investors anticipated range-bound price movement and were likely employing options selling strategies to generate yield. However, ultra-low volatility itself poses a risk—should a black swan event occur, volatility could spike suddenly, triggering position squeezes.
This risk materialized to some extent during the geopolitical crisis in June, when we observed a modest jump in IV and a concurrent rise in the Put/Call ratio to around 1.28, signaling a pickup in short-term risk aversion. Overall, average implied volatility remained at moderate levels throughout the first half, with no extreme surges comparable to those seen in 2021.
To summarize the key points of the options market: in the first half of the year, options open interest continued to climb and market depth improved; investor demand for out-of-the-money call options was robust, but there was also active use of put options for hedging purposes; implied volatility remained low, favoring options selling strategies. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, should the spot market break out of its current range, implied volatility could quickly rise, potentially ushering in a new round of repricing in the options market.
Analysis of Cryptocurrency Perpetual Contracts Liquidation Data
Throughout the first half of 2025, the scale of long liquidations was exceptionally pronounced. Particularly during several sharp market downturns, the risk exposures accumulated by long positions were rapidly and intensely unwound. On February 3, 2025, according to CoinGlass statistics, a total of approximately $2.23 billion in positions were forcibly liquidated within a 24-hour period, with long positions accounting for $1.88 billion. Over 729,000 positions were liquidated during this single-day crash, marking the largest one-day liquidation event in the first and second quarters of 2025. The trigger for this event was Trump’s unexpected announcement of large-scale trade tariffs, which sparked panic selling across the market.
On February 25, a confluence of negative macroeconomic developments exacerbated market fragility: Trump confirmed the tariffs would take effect as scheduled, U.S. retail giant Walmart issued a profit warning, and the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes took a hawkish tone. This combination of factors intensified selling pressure in the already fragile crypto market, leading to another wave of panic-driven liquidations. BTC fell below the psychologically significant $90,000 mark, reaching its lowest point since November of the previous year. On that day, total forced liquidations across the market amounted to roughly $1.57 billion, with a structure similar to early February—long positions again bore the brunt of the losses. Due to the ongoing market decline, leverage capital supporting long positions at elevated price levels was unwound en masse. For example, Bybit alone saw approximately $666 million in positions liquidated, nearly 90% of which were long positions.
In terms of asset impact, both BTC and ETH suffered significant drawdowns, while altcoins experienced even steeper declines. For instance, after Solana reached a new high in mid-January, its price was halved by the end of February, falling more than 50%. The associated perpetual contracts saw over $150 million in liquidations. In early March, BTC’s price briefly dipped to around $82,000, with most major cryptocurrencies registering new multi-month lows.
After the market hit a new annual low on April 7, leveraged long positions were largely flushed out, creating favorable conditions for a potential recovery. Historically, large-scale liquidation of long positions tends to release leverage risk and stabilize the market, facilitating the formation of a bottom and initiating a “post-deleveraging recovery” phase.
On April 23, 2025, the crypto market experienced the largest short liquidation event of the year, marking one of the most significant turning points thus far in 2025. On April 22, BTC surged nearly 7% in a short period to $93K, triggering over $600 million in forced liquidations of short positions—accounting for 88% of the total liquidations that day and far exceeding losses on the long side. The proportion of short liquidations exceeded 75% across major exchanges. In such a rapid one-sided rally, forced short liquidations can significantly amplify upward momentum, resulting in a “short squeeze” stampede. However, from a broader perspective, the absolute scale of short liquidations in the first half of the year was typically lower than that of long liquidations. For example, the largest short liquidation day (about $500–$600 million) was noticeably smaller than the largest long liquidation day in February ($1.88 billion). This dynamic reflects the prevailing bull market cycle, where long positions are more aggressively leveraged and exposed to higher risk. Excessive long optimism and leverage, once critical price levels are breached, can easily trigger cascading liquidations—a “death spiral” of de-leveraging.
In February 2025, Bybit once again began to provide the market and the public with real-time, comprehensive liquidation data via API. This move became one of the most notable developments in the crypto derivatives market in recent times. The immediate background was mounting criticism from industry participants regarding the lack of data transparency on trading platforms, especially concerning the incompleteness of liquidation data disclosure. Such opacity had long contributed to information asymmetry, impairing market participants’ ability to identify and manage risks.
Against this backdrop, Bybit proactively enhanced the breadth and depth of its data disclosures, demonstrating its commitment to bolstering platform credibility and market competitiveness. The push for real-time, comprehensive liquidation data transparency is an important step toward greater transparency and standardization in the crypto derivatives market. Timely access to full liquidation data enables market participants and analysts to more accurately assess market risk, particularly during periods of heightened volatility, thereby mitigating the risk of misjudgment and trading losses due to information asymmetry. Bybit’s initiative sets a strong industry example for data transparency and is expected to positively contribute to the healthy development of the crypto derivatives sector.
Analysis of the Development of Derivatives Exchanges
Analysis of Derivatives Trading Volume
Data from 2025 shows that total cryptocurrency derivatives trading volume exhibited a moderate upward trend compared to 2024, but with significantly increased volatility. Driven by factors such as the global macroeconomic environment, the launch of BTC spot ETFs, and Federal Reserve policy changes, overall market activity rose sharply in 2025—especially during periods of extreme price swings, when derivatives trading volumes repeatedly hit record highs.
At the same time, market structure continued to consolidate around leading exchanges. Platforms such as Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, and Gate captured the majority of market share. Among them, Binance further solidified its dominant position, with trading volumes far surpassing those of other cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges. While OKX and Bybit remained competitive, the gap with Binance widened noticeably.
It is also noteworthy that, since 2024, participation from regulated institutions (such as CME) has increased, accelerating the institutionalization of the derivatives market. The steady growth in derivatives trading volume reflects a rising demand for risk management and leverage tools; however, it also necessitates vigilance regarding liquidity risks and regulatory changes, especially in a high-volatility environment.
Overall, trading activity has become highly concentrated among leading platforms, with top exchanges continuously expanding their market share—amplifying the Matthew effect. Investor trust is closely linked to liquidity, making top-quality exchanges the preferred venues for mainstream capital and trading activity.
Binance
Throughout the first half of 2025, Binance consistently maintained exceptionally high daily trading volumes, with single-day volumes approaching $200 billion on multiple occasions. Over the entire period, Binance’s trading volume remained elevated and exhibited frequent extreme highs, reflecting the platform’s strong market appeal and liquidity across all types of market conditions—both during significant price swings and in more stable periods.
Notably, during episodes of heightened volatility (such as sharp rallies or corrections), Binance’s trading volume expanded markedly, indicating that large funds and major traders increasingly preferred to conduct risk hedging and strategy execution on the platform with the deepest liquidity.
Binance’s daily trading volumes are in a league of their own, with a pronounced “winner-takes-all” effect. Compared to other leading exchanges such as OKX and Bybit, Binance’s volume advantage is clear and continues to grow, with its market share expanding steadily. For much of the time, Binance’s trading volume alone equaled or exceeded the combined total of other major platforms. On the back of this massive trading activity, Binance has assumed a leading role in price discovery and risk hedging for BTC and other major derivatives contracts globally. This endows Binance with substantial influence over market direction and volatility.
OKX
In the first half of 2025, OKX consistently maintained relatively high derivatives trading volumes, with average daily derivatives volume around $30 billion, typically fluctuating within the $20–40 billion range. However, compared to Binance, there remains a significant gap in absolute scale. OKX’s trading volumes were notably volatile, with several sharp spikes during periods of pronounced market swings, highlighting the platform’s strong responsiveness and market appeal. For most of the time, OKX’s trading activity stayed within a relatively stable band, yet overall, it lagged slightly behind Binance and some rapidly growing emerging platforms. This indicates that while OKX retains a robust user base and liquidity in the derivatives market, its high-growth momentum is gradually diminishing.
In 2025, OKX’s strategic focus has clearly shifted from the traditional centralized exchange (CEX) business toward Web3 and wallet-based ecosystems. The explosive growth of OKX Wallet has accelerated the development of its DeFi, on-chain asset management, NFT, and DApp integration ecosystem, attracting a substantial influx of new users and on-chain asset migrations. However, this shift has also contributed to a slowdown in the growth rate of derivatives trading volumes on OKX’s CEX, with some active users and assets moving toward on-chain or multi-chain environments. While the platform’s CEX derivatives trading volumes remain among the industry’s leaders, the underlying growth logic and liquidity landscape are undergoing profound changes.
Overall, OKX maintained solid derivatives trading volumes in the first half of 2025, but its growth momentum lags behind that of the top platforms. Whether OKX can leverage its Web3 initiatives, such as OKX Wallet, to achieve a new round of breakthroughs will be a key variable in determining its future market positioning.
Bybit
In the first half of 2025, Bybit demonstrated steady trading activity in the perpetual contracts market. Trading volumes were consistently distributed without prolonged periods of inactivity, reflecting an active user base and sustained liquidity. The average daily trading volume ranged between $17 billion and $35 billion. Bybit ranked third globally in the perpetual contracts market, behind only Binance and OKX, maintaining a market share of approximately 10–15%. At its peak, Bybit’s trading volumes were occasionally on par with OKX, highlighting its strong competitiveness in the crypto derivatives sector.
Although there remains a significant gap between Bybit and Binance, Bybit possesses certain late-mover advantages in retail trading experience, Web3 community influence, and expansion into emerging markets. The exchange has achieved higher market penetration and stronger brand influence in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. This positions Bybit well to continue capturing market share from mid-tier platforms and to further narrow the gap with the second-ranked OKX.
Bitget
In the first half of 2025, Bitget demonstrated remarkable growth momentum in the global crypto derivatives market, particularly in the perpetual contracts segment. According to CoinGlass data, Bitget’s average daily perpetual contract trading volume steadily rose to the $15–30 billion range, with peaks approaching $90 billion—highlighting the platform’s robust performance. By offering a wide range of perpetual contract products, Bitget has catered to diverse trading needs and attracted a large number of younger users. The exchange has especially strengthened its presence in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, leveraging localized marketing and brand partnerships to boost its brand influence and user reach.
Additionally, Bitget has consistently advanced its technological innovation, optimizing its trading systems and enhancing the user experience, further solidifying its market position. While there remains a gap between Bitget and the leading platforms Binance and OKX, Bitget has emerged as one of the most promising exchanges poised to join the top tier.
Gate
In the first half of 2025, Gate’s derivatives trading segment exhibited notable growth momentum, with average daily trading volume steadily rising to the $10–30 billion range and peak values approaching $60 billion. This performance underscores the platform’s consistently high level of trading activity within the derivatives market. From the perspectives of trading volume growth and market share expansion, Gate has gradually established a differentiated advantage in the current global digital asset derivatives landscape, while also strengthening its influence among emerging markets and the retail investor segment.
The platform has continuously expanded its coverage of contract products, optimizing its suite of perpetual contracts, options, and leveraged products to meet the diverse risk preferences and investment needs of its user base. Although there is still some distance between Gate and the leading platforms such as Binance and OKX, Gate has, through steady growth and a differentiated competitive strategy, emerged as one of the most dynamic and influential up-and-coming derivatives trading platforms, attracting significant attention within the industry.
Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid has emerged as one of the leading decentralized derivatives exchanges (DEXs) during the 2023–2025 period. By the first half of 2025, Hyperliquid’s average daily trading volume had consistently exceeded $3 billion, with peaks surpassing $17 billion on certain days. Leveraging its proprietary native-chain matching engine, Hyperliquid achieves ultra-low latency and high liquidity without relying on oracle-based settlement, significantly enhancing trading depth and price efficiency.
Hyperliquid’s month-over-month and quarter-over-quarter trading volume growth rates have led the entire DEX sector. Key metrics such as active user count, total value locked (TVL), and protocol revenue have also substantially outperformed those of traditional DEX platforms. Over the past year, Hyperliquid has experienced explosive growth, with average daily trading volume surging from less than $100 million to as much as $3–5 billion—an unprecedented pace in the DEX space. Currently, Hyperliquid accounts for more than 80% of the DeFi perpetual contracts market share.
Analysis of Exchange Market Depth
Market depth is a critical indicator for assessing the cumulative volume and distribution of buy and sell orders at various price levels on an exchange’s order book. It directly reflects the liquidity of the market and its ability to accommodate large trades. For cryptocurrency exchanges, robust market depth can significantly reduce the price impact of large transactions, minimize slippage, and enhance the trading experience and cost efficiency for users. This is especially important for attracting high-frequency traders and institutional market makers, who typically require price stability when executing large and frequent trades. Sufficient market depth also provides a solid foundation for the healthy functioning of derivatives markets—such as futures and options—facilitating tight bid-ask spreads and improving overall price discovery and risk-hedging efficiency.
According to CoinGlass data, Binance continues to maintain an absolute leading position in BTC market depth among global cryptocurrency spot exchanges. The median market order book depth globally is around $20–25 million per side, while Binance stands out with a single-side depth of approximately $8 million, accounting for about 32% of total market share—far ahead of second-ranked Bitget (about $4.6 million) and third-ranked OKX (about $3.7 million). Notably, when measured by order book depth exceeding $1 million per side, only Binance achieves more than $1 million on each side, whereas all other major exchanges remain below $500,000. Binance’s unrivaled market depth in BTC highlights its superior liquidity as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In contrast, exchanges like OKX and Bybit still have room for further improvement in market depth and liquidity.
Conclusion
In the first half of 2025, the cryptocurrency derivatives market demonstrated remarkable resilience and pronounced structural divergence amid global macroeconomic turbulence and rising geopolitical risks. On one hand, fueled by continuous inflows into spot ETFs and a wave of institutional allocations, BTC not only broke through its historical highs but also consolidated at elevated levels, with the derivatives market size and open interest reaching new records. Structurally, the market share of regulated exchanges such as CME increased, and the ETF effect further reinforced BTC’s positioning as an “institutional allocation asset,” driving a fundamental shift in overall risk appetite within the sector.
On the other hand, ETH and major altcoins remained under pressure from multiple fronts—technological, ecosystem-related, and capital flows—resulting in lackluster performance. The ETH/BTC ratio declined sharply, investor sentiment toward altcoins remained cautious, and the sector lacked new drivers in terms of technological innovation and application scenarios.
From a trading perspective, the leverage structure of the derivatives market became increasingly healthy, with the scale of both the futures and options markets continuing to expand. Leverage risk was effectively released after several episodes of sharp market movements, with options market open interest and liquidity hitting historical highs, while implied volatility stayed low and the balance between long and short positions improved. The options market remained highly active, with both bullish and hedging demand coexisting. However, the prevailing environment of high open interest and low volatility warrants continued vigilance against “black swan” risks. The large-scale liquidations of both long and short positions in 2025 not only helped release leverage risk but also created the conditions for subsequent price recovery and market stabilization.
At the platform level, Binance maintained its global lead in liquidity and price discovery, while OKX, Bybit, Bitget, and others strengthened their competitiveness in specific segments. Decentralized derivatives exchanges such as Hyperliquid witnessed explosive growth, further unleashing the innovative potential of the DeFi sector.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, key variables remain macro policy developments, ETF flows, and shifts in risk appetite. Should the Federal Reserve implement meaningful adjustments to interest rate policy, or if ETH spot ETF staking mechanisms are approved, these could serve as important catalysts for a recovery in risk appetite. Overall, BTC’s status as a “macro asset” is becoming increasingly pronounced, the institutionalization and regulatory compliance of the derivatives market are accelerating, and leading platforms and innovative protocols continue to benefit. At the same time, regulatory policy, unexpected risks, and liquidity changes remain unresolved structural challenges. Investors should continuously monitor market leverage and liquidity indicators, dynamically adjust their risk exposure, and actively seek a balance between asset allocation and risk hedging amid cycles of change and waves of innovation.
Disclaimer
CoinGlass Technology Co., Limited all rights reserved. COINGLASS/CoinGlass Institutional and related logos are trademarks of CoinGlass Technology Co., Limited (“CoinGlass”) or its affiliates. The views and opinions expressed in this material are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or views of CoinGlass. The information and analysis provided herein regarding cryptocurrencies and related topics are for informational reference only and are intended solely for investors with relevant investment experience. This content does not constitute: (i) an offer or solicitation to invest in or to buy or sell any cryptocurrency, digital asset, financial instrument, or security, or to participate in any specific investment or trading strategy; (ii) accounting, legal, tax, investment advice, or recommendation; or (iii) an official statement from CoinGlass.
The exchanges included in the data calculations are: Binance, OKX, Bybit, CME, Bitmex, Deribit, Kraken, Bitfinex, HTX, Bitget, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gate.io, Hyperliquid, Mexc, and Kucoin (order not indicative of ranking). The statistical period for the data is from January 1, 2025, to June 1, 2025, as of UTC+0 00:00 on the respective date. Unless otherwise indicated, all data referenced is sourced from CoinGlass.
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