Crypto exchange volume cracks $1 trillion for first time since late 2022

Monthly cryptocurrency exchange trading volume surpassed $1 trillion in December, a threshold that exchanges had failed to surpass in over a year. 

December was a big month for crypto trading, with exchange volume totaling $1.1 trillion, The Block's Data Dashboard shows. The last time monthly trading volume for crypto exchanges crossed that mark came in September 2022 when volume registered a total of $1.03 trillion, the data also shows.

The increase in trading volume across exchanges seen during the last month of 2023 also set the highest monthly mark since trading volume hit $1.35 trillion in May 2022.

Among rival exchanges, Binance led the way in December, comprising 39.3% of the month's volume with a total of $432.7 billion in trading volume, followed by Upbit with 8.3%, or $91.8 billion, and then OKX with 8%, or $87.5 billion. 

ETF optimism

December's spike in activity is likely due to the crypto industry's enthusiasm that spot bitcoin ETFs will gain approval, said The Block's Director of Research Steven Zheng. 

"Given the holiday season, December is historically a slow month for trading in crypto," Zheng said. "The fact that monthly spot volumes cracked $1 trillion for the first time in over a year really speaks to the optimism the industry has on the forthcoming spot bitcoin ETF approval and rebirth of a bull market."

As traders anticipate the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin also rallied over the weekend, surging by 5.8% to over $45,000 . The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization traded at $45,260 as of 11:05 a.m. EST, according to The Block's Price Page for Bitcoin .