A new report by crypto analytics firm Kaiko has revealed that spot trading volumes on major crypto exchanges dropped significantly in the second quarter of 2023, reaching the lowest level since last year.
The report, which analyzed data from a total of 20 crypto exchanges, showed that the spot trading volume of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of volume, fell by about 70% in the second quarter.
Other leading exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, and Huobi also experienced sharp drops in spot trading volume, down more than 50% in Q2.
However, the report also highlighted one notable exception: South Korean stock markets. According to Kaiko, spot trading volumes on South Korean platforms increased in the last week of June to over $4 billion per day.
WAVES and BCH led primarily to the jump in volume in Korean stock markets. The price of WAVES had increased by nearly 90% on news that the newly established market maker and investment firm DWF Labs would invest in the project and support its development.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH), meanwhile, has surged nearly 200% in the last two weeks, partly driven by news that it will be one of four tokens listed on the newly institutional-backed US exchange EDX Markets.
Tier 2 tokens were the worst-performing assets in Q2, after posting the strongest returns in Q1, according to the analytics platform.
DeFi tokens closed the quarter down 8% but gained momentum in June thanks to MakerDAO’s MKR and Compound’s COMP tokens. COMP was up over 50% last week due to increased whale purchases on Binance.