Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Decentralized exchanges (DEX) processed roughly $385 billion of spot trades in June, equal to almost 30% of the turnover recorded by centralized venues, according to DefiLlama and The Block data.
The 30-day DEX figure represents a 12% decline from May, but centralized exchange (CEX) spot volume contracted nearly 30% in the same period. Notably, this is the smallest monthly trading volume from CEX since September 2024.
These divergent movements resulted in a “DEX to CEX Spot Trade Volume” of 28.4% as of press time, a new all-time high. The previous record was roughly 21%, seen in May.
Binance, Coinbase, OKX, and other centralized platforms saw deeper declines as traders reduced leverage and moved assets to self-custody.
Bitcoin (BTC) activity could serve as a proxy for this movement, as Binance recently registered 5,700 BTC in a 30-day inflow, which is less than half the average seen since 2020.
Furthermore, data from Nansen shows a steady decline in the ERC-20 stablecoin supply on centralized exchanges since June 17.
With less than one trading day remaining in June, the running DEX total sits $15 billion shy of the $400 billion threshold.
The average daily volume over the past week exceeded $13 billion, leaving a plausible path to finish above $400 billion if market conditions remain stable.
Despite some woes between January and April, the DEX to CEX ratio never dipped below 12% in 2025. Between 2019 and 2024, the 12% threshold was breached only four times, highlighting the strength of on-chain trading this year.
In January, analyst Ignas noted that price discovery is shifting heavily to decentralized exchanges rather than being held by venture capital funds.
According to the analyst, this occurs because traders labeled as “smart money” are predominantly involved in on-chain trading.
Consequently, the volumes on centralized exchanges act as “exit liquidity” for these traders. The increase in on-chain trading volumes could reflect traders moving to platforms where the action originates rather than waiting in centralized venues.
