It's not long after 2025 has passed, and the landscape of cryptocurrency exchanges is already beginning to shift.

The data shows—spot trading volume increased by 3.6% year-over-year, which doesn't seem like much, but derivatives trading soared by 27%. Last year, HTX and KuCoin were even more aggressive, with trading volumes doubling or more, and year-over-year growth exceeding 60%.

However, in terms of absolute scale, the longstanding top players still hold the first position. With a spot trading volume of $7.3 trillion and derivatives trading totaling $27 trillion, it's almost equivalent to the combined volume of the second to fourth-ranked exchanges. This is what is called the "head effect"—derivatives business has long been the core driving force of the entire CEX.

Interestingly, although trading volume is large, the number of users has not grown in tandem. Instead, APP downloads decreased by 35.47% year-over-year. What does this indicate? The market is diverging; the growth rate of new users is slowing, and existing users are repeatedly trading to sustain most of the trading volume.

Regarding user coverage, the leading exchanges still dominate. They have 50.52 million APP downloads and over 600 million web visits, establishing a solid global user base. Interestingly, some compliant exchanges, although not ranking high in trading volume, rank in the top two in APP downloads and web traffic, reflecting their strong appeal in compliant markets and among novice users.

The crypto market in 2025 continues to demonstrate the "Matthew Effect"—the strong get stronger, and the weak are pushed out. Competition in the exchange sector has evolved from a simple volume race to a multidimensional contest involving user experience, compliance capabilities, and derivatives innovation.