Crypto decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volumes have climbed to record levels relative to centralized exchanges (CEXs), fueled by what CoinGecko describes as a wave of “memecoin speculation mania.”
According to a Thursday report from CoinGecko research analyst Yuqian Lim, the share of spot crypto trading taking place on DEXs has more than tripled over the past five years, reaching fresh highs in 2025. The DEX-to-CEX spot trading ratio hit an all-time peak of 37.4% in June, driven by surging interest in memecoins and a sharp rise in PancakeSwap’s activity following order flow routed from Binance’s new Alpha platform, launched in May.
While centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase have long controlled the majority of spot trading due to their convenience and feature sets, decentralized platforms have steadily enhanced their offerings in an effort to draw more traders.
DEX trading appears to be holding steady
After hitting a record in June, the DEX-to-CEX spot trading ratio has eased to roughly 21% as of November. Still, Lim noted this marks the fifth straight month the ratio has hovered around the 20% range, signaling persistent activity on decentralized platforms.
“This is well above the stagnant DEX to CEX spot ratios seen in previous years and potentially indicates stickiness in DEXs’ growing market share of spot trading volume.”
Lim noted that DEX spot volumes from May through October stayed well above levels seen in prior years, even hitting a record $419 billion in October despite a broad market pullback. “This further underscores a gradual yet steady shift in preference toward on-chain trading,” she said.
DEX futures activity sets new milestone in November
At the same time, the DEX-to-CEX futures trading ratio—which measures the share of perpetual futures volume handled by each type of exchange—continued climbing. It reached a record 11.7% in November 2025, marking a new high for decentralized derivatives trading.
Lim said perpetuals-focused DEXs have staged a strong comeback in 2025, with trading volumes rising tenfold year-over-year to reach a record $903 billion in October. “As with spot markets, DEX perpetuals volumes have only begun narrowing the gap with CEXs this year. In fact, November marks the 14th straight month of month-on-month growth in the DEX-to-CEX perps volume ratio,” she noted.
She attributed the surge in on-chain derivatives activity to the rise of new players like Hyperliquid, Lighter, and edgeX, several of which have rolled out incentives to draw traders.
“Hyperliquid alone has generated $2.74 trillion in perpetuals volume so far this year—placing it on par with Coinbase and surpassing the combined totals of other leading perp DEXs,” Lim said.
Still, she cautioned that it’s unclear whether current DEX perpetuals volumes will hold once these incentive programs come to an end.
