Crypto data tracker CoinGlass released its Q1 2026 market report, describing the market as in a "cautious recovery" phase. Total combined spot and derivatives trading volume reached approximately $20.57 trillion, but monthly volumes declined from January highs. Spot volume was around $1.94 trillion, derivatives volume around $18.63 trillion, with the ratio widening to 9.6x, indicating traders increasingly rely on derivatives for hedging and short-term speculation.
Binance Dominates in All Four Metrics
Binance retained its crown across the board. The exchange ranked first in four core indicators: derivatives volume at $4.9 trillion (34.9% market share, exceeding OKX and Bybit combined); average daily open interest at $23.9 billion (29.9% share); liquidity depth (best in both BTC and ETH spot and futures ±1% order book depth); and user asset retention with $152.9 billion in average daily custodial assets (73.5% share, nearly 10x OKX).
Second-Tier Competition and DEX Challenger
OKX ranks second in derivatives scale and futures liquidity. Bybit and Gate are neck-and-neck — Bybit excels in retail activity and spot liquidity, while Gate leads in contract open interest. Bitget holds a steady top-5 position. The spot market is more fragmented, with Gate, Bybit, Coinbase, and OKX separated by narrow margins.
Decentralized derivatives platforms are making a serious push into the mainstream. Dark horse Hyperliquid posted $492.7 billion in Q1 volume and $6 billion in daily average open interest, matching Bitget and breaking into the global top 10. This shows on-chain protocols have evolved from niche experiments into real competitors eating into CEX market share.
Q2 Watchpoints
CoinGlass notes that Q1 saw volumes contract month-over-month and open interest stabilize after retreating from highs — typical of a post-shock repair phase following Q4 2025. For Q2, key variables include clarity on Fed monetary policy path, shifts in Bitcoin spot ETF flows, and progress on regulatory frameworks across major jurisdictions.