Decentralised exchanges’ January 2021 volume tops $50BN

The trading volume on decentralised exchanges (DEX) surpassed the $50 billion mark for the first time 

Decentralised exchanges set a new record last month after topping the $50 billion mark for the first time in a single month. The previous record was $26 billion, which was recorded in September 2020.

According to Dune Analytics, the average trading volume on DEX was $55.8 billion in January, up from $23.5 billion recorded the previous month. The decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges are recording a massive trading volume as more people prefer to transact in a crypto-native environment.

The privacy and security offered by decentralised exchanges are superior to that of the regular centralised exchanges, which has convinced some traders and investors to switch. Jack Purdy, the decentralised finance analyst at Messari, believes that the trend will likely continue as the decentralised exchanges become more liquid and the user experience improves to match centralised exchanges.

Uniswap remains the leader in the decentralised exchange space, accounting for over 45% of the entire trading volume. Dune Analytics revealed that Uniswap alone recorded $25.9 billion in trading volumes last month. SushiSwap came second, accounting for 22% of the trading volume after recording $12.2 billion last month.

Exchange tokens rally in January

The decentralised exchanges’ massive trading volume is part of a broader surge in trading volume for cryptocurrency exchanges. New data showed that exchange tokens hit new all-time highs last week as stock traders venture into the crypto market following the GameStop Saga.

Most retail traders were frustrated with the recent restrictions on stock buying on trading platforms such as Robinhood and are now turning their attention to decentralised and centralised exchanges. This has helped to drive the prices of exchange tokens higher, as they set new all-time highs due to massive trading volumes.

According to data from Skew, the Bitcoin futures trading volumes on Binance and FTX surged over the weekend. Binance’s BNB native coin reached a new all-time high of $50.27 yesterday, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeting about it. FTX’s FTT token also rallied to a new all-time high price of $12.95 on Friday as both tokens enjoy attention from more traders and investors.

Uniswap (UNI) and SushiSwap tokens both surpassed their previous high prices over the weekend. Retail traders are currently driving the trading volumes on decentralised exchanges as the demand for private and secure trading platforms increase.