Decentralized Trading Platforms Hit New Highs in Market Share This Quarter

Decentralized Exchanges Capture Record Market Share in Q2 as PancakeSwap Leads the Pack

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) hit a historic milestone in Q2 2025, claiming their largest-ever share of spot crypto trading volume, according to a new report from CoinGecko. The surge came amid declining activity on centralized exchanges (CEXs), with PancakeSwap emerging as the dominant player.

Spot trading volumes on DEXs jumped to $876.3 billion in the quarter, marking a more than 25% increase from Q1. In contrast, leading centralized platforms saw a significant retreat, with combined volume across top CEXs plunging nearly 28% to $3.9 trillion. This shift pushed the DEX-to-CEX ratio to an all-time high of 0.23, indicating rising investor preference for on-chain trading solutions.

PancakeSwap, built on the BNB Smart Chain, processed over $392 billion in trades during the period — more than five times its previous quarter’s total. The platform’s growth was supercharged by its integration with Binance Alpha, launched in May, which began routing trades through PancakeSwap and cemented BNB Smart Chain as the most active blockchain for DEX activity, surpassing Ethereum, Base, and Solana.

Meanwhile, Binance maintained its lead among centralized exchanges despite a decline in trading volume from over $2 trillion to $1.47 trillion. Other major platforms such as Crypto.com and Coinbase also saw declines, with Crypto.com suffering a 61% drop in volume.

Perpetuals trading on DEXs also hit new highs, with $898 billion in volume for the quarter. Hyperliquid (HYPE) dominated this niche, capturing an impressive 73% share of the decentralized perpetuals market.