Binance handled 737.1 billion spot volume; DEXs reached 368.8 billion, led by Uniswap and PancakeSwap amid rising activity.
Crypto trading picked up in August. Centralized and decentralized venues processed a combined $1.86 trillion, up 5% from July’s $1.77 trillion, according to The Block’s dashboard. Activity still trails December 2024 ($3 trillion) and the record set in May 2021 (above $4 trillion). Yet the market shows fresh participation.
Binance led centralized exchanges with $737.1 billion in spot volume, its highest since January, versus $706.1 billion in July. On-chain venues also advanced: decentralized exchanges reached $368.8 billion, led by Uniswap at $143 billion and PancakeSwap at $58.7 billion.
Within this backdrop, Ethereum took the lead in spot trading on centralized platforms for the first time in over seven years. In August, ETH recorded about $480 billion in spot volume and outpaced Bitcoin during multiple weekly windows, where BTC posted around $401 billion.
The shift aligns with rising institutional interest. Corporate treasuries holding ETH rose from roughly $9 billion to more than $19 billion across August. Firms such as BitMine Immersion and SharpLink Gaming increased holdings between 60% and 124% over the last month.
ETF flows tell a similar story. U.S. spot Ethereum funds drew an estimated $3.8 billion in net inflows during August, while Bitcoin funds saw net outflows. Price action reflects that rotation. ETH climbed about 70% over three months and set a new all-time high near $4,950 in August before pulling back more than 10%. Bitcoin reached above $124,000 and gained roughly 6% in the same period, then also retraced.
