Crypto spot volumes hit 3-month low

Crypto market trading activity cooled off in September with global spot volumes across centralized exchanges sliding to $1.67 trillion. The 9.7% drop from August’s $1.85 trillion is the lowest level since June. However, the dip shows a quieter month for traders even as Bitcoin’s price surged toward new highs.

The crypto market cap regained the $4 trillion mark in October with force. It looked like a major recovery for the market as Bitcoin price rallied from trading below $110,000 straight to above $120,000. The Fear and Greed Index shows that sentiments are still “Neutral” but tilting towards “Greed” territory.

Binance still leads, but volumes slip

Data shows that Binance remained the dominant exchange in the spot trading stats, though its volume slipped to $636.5 billion from $737.1 billion in August. Bybit followed with $132.1 billion, while Gate.io and Bitget handled $124 billion and $117.9 billion, respectively.

Decentralized trading also lost a bit of momentum as DEX volumes dipped slightly to $363.4 billion in September from $368.8 billion the month prior. Within that, Uniswap’s turnover dropped to $106.5 billion from $143 billion. However, PancakeSwap saw activity climb to $79.8 billion from $58.7 billion.

Spot trading might have slowed down over the past months, but Bitcoin ETFs quietly reversed course. US spot Bitcoin funds logged $3.53 billion in net inflows during September, rebounding from $751 million in outflows in August. However, BTC ETFs had posted an inflow of over $6 billion in July.

Bitcoin price surged by more than 12% over the past 30 days. BTC is trading at an average price of $124,475 at the press time. Its 24-hour trading volume is hovering around $53.5 billion.

BTC breaks new high as gold joins the run

On-chain data tells a similar story of shifting sentiment. As Bitcoin rallies, the average BTC inflow to exchanges has declined from 0.55 to 0.48. This suggests fewer investors are moving coins to sell. In other words, the latest leg higher from around $108,000 to $124,000 appears driven by real demand and long-term holders, not short-term profit-taking.

That’s reinforced by broader market behavior. High inflows typically signal selling pressure, but the current downtrend in exchange deposits suggests conviction is building among holders. Unless inflows spike again, a warning sign that whales may be preparing to sell, the rally looks well-grounded for now.

Bitcoin itself set a fresh record on Sunday, climbing as high as $125,689. This is BTC’s first new peak since mid-August as investors piled into so-called “debasement trades” amid the ongoing US government shutdown. With key economic data releases halted, including nonfarm payrolls, risk appetite shifted sharply toward hard assets. Gold mirrored that move, hitting a record above $3,900 per ounce on Monday and extending a months-long run.