Over 50% Of All BTC Trade Volumes On Exchanges Are Fake

Bitcoin dominates the digital assets markets, being the firstborn crypto and the most publicised. It accounts for over 40% of the global cryptocurrency market capitalisation.

While Bitcoin trade volumes are expected to outpace those of other cryptocurrencies considerably, recent data shows these values might have been blown out of proportion.

Global daily BTC trade volume sits at $128B—51% less than the purported $262B

Forbes extensively analysed cryptocurrency exchanges and released a corresponding report on Friday. The report suggests that 51% of the daily Bitcoin trade volumes reported on exchanges are likely fake or non-economic. Forbes got the data from analyzing up to 157 crypto exchanges across several countries.

The analysis valued the global daily BTC trade volume at an estimated $128B on June 14. This value is $134B less than the $262B trade volume reported by the exchanges, marking a 51% decrease. 

Additionally, the report assessed daily Bitcoin trading activity within the exchanges. Per the report, the top 21 exchanges see $1B+ in daily trading activity amongst spot, futures and perpetual contracts. On the other hand, 33 other exchanges record anywhere between $200M and $999M in daily trading activity.

Binance leads in global exchanges with a 27% market share

Amongst the top crypto exchanges, Binance emerged as the leading firm, which is expected. The global crypto exchange, with headquarters in Cayman Islands and Seychelles, takes a massive chunk of the global market share, sitting at 27%. FTX followed closely. 

While Binance, FTX and OKX secure top positions concerning spot markets, derivatives marketplace CME Group outpaces all other exchanges when it concerns futures trading. The American markets company prides itself on being the world’s largest derivatives marketplace.

“The biggest problem areas regarding fake volume are firms that tout big volume but operate with little or no regulatory oversight that would make their figures more credible,” the report said. It noted that Binance, MEXC Global and Bybit are among these companies.

Notwithstanding, the report acknowledged that smaller exchanges are also in the habit of overestimations. The analysis recorded Bitcoin trading volumes of $89B in these smaller firms—over 58% less than the $217B claim. In addition, the report also discovered that about 573 million individuals visit exchanges in a month.