In September 2023, total monthly volumes across spot and derivative markets fell to $1.4 trillion, down more than 60% from September 2022, according to London-based researcher CCData. Spot markets bore the brunt, with volumes down more than 70% at $272 billion.
Bybit has received an ‘AA’ rating in CCData’s Crypto Exchange Benchmark Report, a critical study that analyzes the performance and risk management capacities of centralized and decentralized exchanges in the crypto industry, according to the press release shared with Finbold on November 3.
"October has seen major developments in the digital asset space," CCData said in a report shared with CoinDesk. "To start, six ETH Futures ETFs commenced trading on the 2nd, giving investors exposure to ETH futures. Shortly after, Bitcoin's price surged by 7.56% in less than an hour to a peak of $30,009 driven by rumours regarding the approval of BlackRock's application."
"These events, among others, have ignited investor sentiment and raised hopes for the imminent approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF," CCData added.
Regarding crypto-specific fund flows, bitcoin-based products increased their market share to 73.3% from 70.5% in September, with AUM rising 11.1% to $23.2 billion, the report said.
Binance support for native USDC can attract new volumes as exchange activity drops off ahead of an anticipated Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Last week, derivative traders experienced dramatic liquidations as Bitcoin’s price rose to $30,000 amid rumors of an anticipated ETF approval.
Bitcoin has been around since 2009, after all. Why are European bankers suddenly interested in cross-border BTC flows at this moment in time? The short answer is that crypto volumes weren’t large enough earlier to merit a central banker’s attention, said von Luckner. Today, crypto is a $1 trillion industry. Moreover, the banks recognize the “tangible influence these [new assets] can exert on the monetary aspects of fiat currencies,” Jacob Joseph, research analyst at crypto analytics firm CCData, told Cointelegraph.
Coinbase’s ongoing measures to improve liquidity come amid the exchange’s trading volumes tanking this year. According to the cryptocurrency market data provider CCData, Coinbase’s spot trading volumes for the third quarter plummeted 52% since 2022.
Other major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance have also seen their spot market share dominance falling this year. According to CCData, Binance’s spot market share fell for a seventh consecutive month in September 2023, tumbling from 55% in early 2023 to 34% in September 2023.
The total market capitalization of stablecoins — a type of digital currency whose value is pegged to another asset class such as fiat - dropped to $123.8 billion as of September, according to researcher CCData. That’s the least since August 2021. The sector was $137.9 billion in December.
Martin Bednall, former managing director at BlackRock and now CEO of Jacobi Asset Management, said the Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to approve all spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications at the same time.
"I don't think they're going to want to give anybody first mover advantage," Bednall, who spent over 13 years at BlackRock, said at the CCData Digital Asset Summit earlier this week. The potential bitcoin ETF approvals will be "hugely positive" for crypto markets, Bednall added.
Hosted by CCData (formerly CryptoCompare), CCDAS is one of Europe’s leading institutional summits for crypto assets. Taking place in the capital’s Old Billingsgate on the same timetable as SmartCon, this year’s agenda includes FCA’s Head of Capital Markets Helen Boyd, Tyrone Lobban, Managing Director Onyx by J.P. Morgan, Wilshire’s CEO Mark Makepeace, and offering a City of London perspective with the new Lord Mayor and polymath Michael Mainelli.
The United Kingdom will get its second crypto sandbox by Q1 2024. It will be explicitly focused on digital securities.
During her speech at the CCData Digital Asset Summit on Oct. 3, the head of capital markets at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Helen Boyd, revealed that His Majesty’s Treasury plans to launch a Digital Securities Sandbox at the end of Q1 2024. Though de-jure an independent financial regulator, the FCA falls under the purview of the U.K. Treasury.
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