Derivative trading growth led to Q2 24% prices resurgence, CoinGecko

The crypto market surged by 24% on average in Q2, erasing some of the losses of the previous quarter. The second quarter erased the rough start to 2025, while also leading to a shift in the profile of crypto traders. 

The crypto market added 24% on average in Q2, returning most crypto prices to highs not seen since January. Based on Coingecko data, Q2 showed gradual growth, while deeper trading trends shifted among market participant profiles. The market recovered $663.6B in lost value, ending the quarter with a market cap of $3.5T, just shy of the levels in January.

New capital flowed into BTC, leading to a dominance above 62% for most of Q2. However, spot volumes lagged behind derivatives. BTC ended the quarter with 29.9% net returns, while ETH locked in 36.5%, but failed to cause an altcoin rally. 

The Q2 report by Coingecko showed a major theme of influence shifting to institutions. Spot trading also gave way to derivative activity, betting on price action even without holding actual coins or tokens. 

Q2 set the pace for the new series of records in July, as the crypto market remained lively despite geopolitical tensions and uncertainty.

Trading in Q2 shifted to DEX and derivative exchanges

Spot trading slowed down for the second quarter, despite a series of BTC records. 

Decentralized exchanges saw peak growth for both spot swaps and perpetual futures volumes. Hyperliquid emerged as the clear winner in the derivative category, while PancakeSwap enjoyed peak activity based on Binance’s campaigns and token launches. 

Centralized exchanges saw an outflow of volumes and users, signaling a broader shift in crypto usage. In June, the DEX share peaked at close to 30% of centralized volumes, showing decentralized markets are much more than a byline. 

With more stringent requirements on centralized markets, DEXs remain a source of no-KYC trading and a venue for newly launched tokens. Despite the market optimism, centralized exchanges lost more than 27% of their volumes from Q1, achieving $3.9T in total volumes for Q2.

Binance still dominated the spot market, with a share of 37%-39% throughout the quarter. MEXC, HTX and Bitget increased their volumes, boosted by meme listings. Crypto.com lost the most activity, with volumes falling by 61.4% for the past quarter. After locking in the second spot for two consecutive quarters, Crypto.com fell to eighth position based on spot volumes. 

Circle opened IPO season in Q2

Some of the Q2 trends may set the pace for the rest of the year. One of the big trends remained the expansion of treasury companies, using the traditional market to raise funds and buy crypto. 

The surprise trend was crypto companies gaining market valuation through an IPO. Circle’s IPO exceeded expectations during the quarter, boosting excitement for crypto companies. 

The Circle IPO in June was 25 times oversubscribed and rallied on the first day of the trading launch. Despite the $31 per share price, the shares immediately rallied and closed at $83.23. 

Circle’s IPO may set the pace for the next quarter, when IPO are expected from Kraken, Gemini, and Grayscale.