new all-time high at 27.9% in June 2025

Decentralized trading on DEX is gaining more ground at the expense of CEX, with PancakeSwap and Hyperliquid leading the revolution.

The DEX–CEX ratio at all-time highs: over 27% of spot trades are on DEX

In June 2025, the ratio between spot volumes on DEX (Decentralized Exchanges) and CEX (Centralized Exchanges) reached a new all-time high of 27.9%, according to the joint report by The Block and Binance Research.

The volumes on DEX have more than doubled in the last 12 months, while those on CEX have remained flat. The trend reflects a profound transformation of the crypto market, with users increasingly oriented towards transparent, permissionless, and innovative solutions.

PancakeSwap and Hyperliquid: the protagonists of DeFi

Among the DEX, PancakeSwap is the true revelation of the quarter, with a leap in market share from 16% in April to 42% in June. Its growth is supported by:

• The trading strategy Alpha, which has improved volumes and liquidity.
• The Infinity update, which made the user experience faster, cheaper, and more efficient.
• The increase in on-chain activity thanks to World Liberty Financial, which has brought more liquidity and yield farming opportunities.

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Even Hyperliquid has recorded record numbers, increasing from about 6 billion dollars in spot volumes in January to almost 10 billion in June, confirming itself among the most performing players. As shown by the chart, the decentralized trading platform is also starting to gain market share compared to Binance in perps future volumes:

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On the Solana front, platforms like PumpSwap have maintained a good level of user activity, even though they have not managed to repeat the peak at the beginning of the year fueled by the memecoin mania.

CeDeFi: the CEX fuel the growth of the DEX

A key element behind this rise is the integration of CEX into the DeFi ecosystem. More and more centralized exchanges are launching CeDeFi (Centralized Decentralized Finance) solutions, which combine the liquidity of CEX with the on-chain execution of DEX.

These hybrid platforms offer:

• Low slippage for large volume orders.
• Protection from Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).
• Rapid and secure transactions.

This approach allows DEX to scale volumes and users to benefit from the best of both worlds.

DeFi more resilient than CEX in an uncertain context

The evolving regulatory context is favoring DEX, which thanks to their flexibility can introduce new features and incentives more quickly.

On the contrary, spot volumes on CEX remain strongly correlated to external factors such as:

• Retail speculation.
• General macroeconomic conditions.
• Market volatility.

This difference makes CEX more vulnerable to external shocks, as demonstrated in the first six months of 2025, while DEX continue to innovate and capture market share.

Outlook: the future will be increasingly hybrid

The data confirms that DeFi is now a mature and competitive sector. The DEX are consolidating their position thanks to continuous technological innovation, the quality of the user experience, and the synergy with the CEX.

For investors and traders, this means that hybrid platforms and decentralized trading will play an increasingly central role, offering more flexible and high-performing solutions.