Cryptocurrency derivatives trading volume will grow to nearly $85.7 trillion in 2025, an average of about $264.5 billion per day, according to a report by liquidation data tracker CoinGlass.
Binance led the market with roughly $25.09 trillion in cumulative derivatives volume, or about 29.3% of global trading, meaning nearly $30 out of every $100 traded went through the exchange, CoinGlass he said.
OKX, Bybit, and Bitget followed, each posting an annual volume of $8.2 to $10.8 trillion. These four stock exchanges accounted for about 62.3% of the total market share.
CoinGlass said institutional avenues have expanded across spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options and matched futures, helping to drive a structural climb for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which has already overtaken Binance in open interest in Bitcoin (BTC) futures in 2024 and cemented its position in 2025.
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Derivatives grow in complexity
CoinGlass said derivatives have also become more complex in 2025. The market has moved away from a retail-led, highly leveraged ups and downs model towards a combination of institutional hedging, underlying trading and ETFs.
This shift came at a cost as deeper leverage chains and more interconnected positioning increased “tail risks”.
“Extreme events unfolding during 2025 have imposed stress tests of unprecedented scale on existing margin mechanisms, liquidation rules and risk transfer pathways between platforms,” the report said.
Open interest in global crypto derivatives fell to an annual low of around $87 billion after deleveraging in the first quarter, then rose to a mid-year record high of $235.9 billion on October 7.
A sharp reset early in the fourth quarter wiped out more than $70 billion of positions, roughly one-third of total open interest, in a rapid deleveraging event. Even after that shake-up, year-end open interest of $145.1 billion is still up 17% from the start of the year.
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The liquidation shock in October exposed the risks of the waterworks
The biggest test of stress resistance this year took place at the beginning of October. CoinGlass estimated total forced liquidations in 2025 at around $150 billion, but much of the damage occurred during October 10th and 11th, when liquidations exceeded $19 billion. Most of the losses were on the long side, with 85%–90% of the liquidations coming from traders betting on higher prices.
CoinGlass linked the decline to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on imports from China. This has pushed the markets into a “risk situation”.
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