Crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH), which operates an exclusively institutional crypto exchange business, moved into the top three centralized crypto exchanges in terms of spot trading volume for the first time, surpassing Coinbase (COIN) as trading activity in the industry slowed, according to CoinDesk Data’s February Trading Review.
Spot trading volumes on Bullish, which is CoinDesk’s parent company, increased 62.6% month-over-month to $76 billion, the exchange’s highest monthly total since October 2025. The rise brought Bullish’s market share to 5.06%, up 2.04 percentage points, making it the third-largest centralized exchange by spot trading volume.
The increase pushed Bullish, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year, ahead of Coinbase (COIN), which had a 4.59% share of the spot market during the month.
This milestone comes even as overall activity on centralized exchanges has declined. Combined spot and derivatives trading volumes fell 2.41% in February to $5.61 trillion, the lowest level recorded since October 2024, the report said.
The slowdown coincided with moderate volatility in major cryptocurrencies. Despite high volatility during the first and last weeks of February, bitcoin spent much of the month trading in a tight range between $60,000 and $70,000, limiting the speculative activity that often results in higher trading volumes.
Spot trading accounted for $1.50 trillion of that total, down 3.01% from January. Derivatives trading fell 2.41% to $4.11 trillion, but remains the dominant force, accounting for 73.2% of all trading on centralized exchanges, the report said.
While Binance largely remained the dominant exchange, recording $331 billion in spot trading volume in February, representing about 22% market share, its dominance declined to its lowest monthly level since October 2020, suggesting that trading activity is increasingly distributed among competing platforms.
Bullish’s rise in the rankings highlights the changing dynamics among centralized exchanges amid intensifying competition. Exchanges are increasingly competing on liquidity, trading incentives and new product offerings to attract traders during periods of slow market activity. Some have partnered with major U.S. exchanges to offer tokenized securities or launched predictive market trading.
