1. The Definition and Background of CEX

Centralized exchanges (CEX for short) have been an important part of the cryptocurrency market for a long time, mainly providing users with services such as trading matching, asset custody, derivative trading between fiat and crypto assets, and among crypto assets. Despite the continuous rise of decentralized exchanges (DEX) in 2024 and early 2025, CEX still accounted for the vast majority of cryptocurrency trading volume. According to TokenInsight’s “Crypto Exchange 2024 Annual Report,” the total trading volume of CEX in 2024 was still tens of times that of decentralized exchanges.

Source:TokenInsight’s “Crypto Exchange 2024 Annual Report”

CEX has advantages such as fast trading speed, good order depth, and low entry barriers. At the same time, some leading CEXs have gradually obtained compliance qualifications for global operations through years of technological iteration and compliance construction. As one of the more prominent CEXs, Gate and its platform Coin (i.e. GT) have achieved remarkable market performance in 2024. Data from TokenInsight shows that by the end of 2024, the annual growth of platform Coins on various exchanges generally showed positive growth, reflecting investors’ recognition of the value of CEX platforms and their ecosystems against the backdrop of market recovery.

Source:Gate.io

2. CEX recent industry news and updates

2.1 Regulatory Trends

During the period from January 2025 to March 2025, multiple countries frequently issued the latest regulatory guidelines on cryptocurrency regulations. While some regions are still strengthening regulations on anti-money laundering and investor protection, the overall trend shows a ‘stricter review, compliance first’ approach. Against this backdrop, some centralized exchanges that have already obtained licenses are steadily expanding their business scope. It is widely believed in the industry that 2025 will be an important year for CEXs to compete for international regulatory qualifications and solidify user trust.

2.2 New product launch

As of March 3, 2025, many Centralized Exchanges (CEX) have been active in contract trading, NFT trading sections, and derivative innovation. Some platforms have successively launched zero-slippage trading experiences based on Layer 2 technology, while others are actively exploring the trading and mortgage lending fields of metaverse assets. The launch of these products not only enriches user choices but also further solidifies the dominant position of CEX in the market.

2.3 Market sentiment rebounds

After 2025, the overall market sentiment is more optimistic than in the second half of 2024. Bitcoin (BTC) closed at about $106,074.11 at the end of 2024 (the highest price once broke through the $110,000 range, while the lowest price appeared around $20,000), and after entering 2025, it has fluctuated but still remains between $90,000 and $110,000. The continued market enthusiasm and investment demand have laid the foundation for the re-growth of CEX trading volume.

3. CEX Overall Performance (2024)

3.1 Continuous Expansion of Trading Volume

According to the data from TokenInsight’s “Crypto Exchange 2024 Annual Report”, the annual trading volume of CEX in 2024 is approximately $76.88 trillion, a year-on-year increase of about 124.4%. This growth rate has been relatively strong in the past few years, indicating that the cryptocurrency market is still in a “volatile and upward” trend in 2024.

3.2 Diversified Market Structure

In 2024, the business structure of CEX will be more diverse, includingSpot Trading、Futures Trading(Futures, Perpetuals),Options,Staking Service、NFT TradingAs more traditional financial institutions and professional investors enter the market, CEX is also providing more flexible derivatives and professional trading tools to meet the trading needs of different types of users.

3.3 Security and Compliance Upgrade

In 2024, Centralized Exchanges (CEX) have generally increased their investment in user asset security, technical security, and regulatory filings. Especially for major markets such as Asia, Europe, and the Americas, exchanges actively communicate with local governments and financial institutions to obtain legal licenses or accreditation. The upgrade of security and compliance has laid the foundation for further expansion of CEX in 2025.

4. CEX Trading Volume Data Analysis

According to TokenInsight’s annual statistics, the total trading volume of the Top 10 CEX in the four quarters of 2024 is in the trillions of US dollars as follows:

• Q1 2024: The price of Bitcoin is driven by the spot ETF, rising from the range of $20,000 at the end of the previous year to a peak of about $110,000. The market sentiment is exuberant, and the CEX trading volume also soared, reaching 18.25T for the quarter.
• Q2-Q3 2024: As market concerns deepen about the macroeconomic environment and regulatory policies, cryptocurrency prices experience fluctuations and pullbacks, with BTC dropping to levels close to $20,000. Trading volume tends to decrease during this time, with only a total volume of 14.48T recorded in Q3.
• Q4 2024: The market saw a strong rebound by the end of the year, with quarterly trading volume soaring to 27.98T, accounting for 36.4% of the total annual volume. The closing price of BTC at the end of December was approximately $106,074.11, slightly lower than the range of the highest price of $110,000 during the year, but still significantly higher than the beginning of the year.

Overall, in 2024, the overall trading volume trend presents a pattern of ‘opening high, falling back, and rising again.’ Most centralized exchanges have accumulated richer market experience in this cycle of fluctuations and seized the opportunity in Q4 to gain higher trading volume and user base.

5. DEX vs CEX Trading Volume Comparison

Although CEX still dominates the trading volume in 2024, the development of DEX is also significant. According to the report, DEX’s market share at the end of 2024 has significantly increased to 2.98%, and the average market share for the whole year has also risen to 0.95%. The quarterly data is shown in the table below (T is in trillion US dollars):

• Q1 2024: DEX accounts for only 2.03% of the market share, while CEX accounts for 97.97%.
• Q2-Q3 2024: The overall trading volume in the cryptocurrency market fell, but the proportion of DEX still maintained a slight increase.
• Q4 2024: As the market rebounds, DEX trading volume quickly increased from 0.38T to 0.86T, accounting for 2.98%.

Since 2024, in addition to the traditional DEX, decentralized trading protocols on some new public chain projects have emerged, boosting the rapid growth of DEX trading volume. However, in absolute terms, CEX still leads the market in depth, liquidity, and global business coverage. Therefore, in early 2025, CEX and DEX present a competitive situation of ‘each with its own advantages, complementing each other’.

6. Advantages and Challenges of Centralized Exchange

6.1 Advantages

1. Liquidity and Depth: CEX usually has a large user base and a wide range of trading varieties. Due to the large order volume, fast order matching speed, and better trading depth, it provides a good environment for large transactions or high-frequency strategies.
2. Compliance and Trust: Some CEXs have obtained financial regulatory licenses or compliance permits in multiple countries in the past few years, making institutions and professional traders more willing to choose CEXs.
3. Diversified products: CEX offers a variety of products including spot, futures, options, margin trading, collateralized lending, etc., meeting the needs of investors at different levels.
4. Technology and security investment: Large CEXs invest a significant amount of resources in risk control, security audits, and optimization of trading systems, with mature teams and technological reserves.

6.2 Challenge

1. Regulatory policy risks: Although the trend of compliance of Centralized Exchanges (CEX) is becoming more apparent, there are significant differences in regulations among countries, and regional policy uncertainties still exist.
2. Decentralization Trend: With the rise of the DEX ecosystem, some users, driven by the need for decentralization or the pursuit of innovative products, are turning to DEX, which also poses a certain impact on the market share of CEX.
3. Technological iteration and competition: The CEX industry faces fierce internal competition, with some new platforms rapidly emerging through differentiated positioning (such as professional derivatives, NFT trading dedicated sessions, etc.), forcing traditional CEX to continuously upgrade their functions and services.
4. Security Incident: Despite the significant improvement in security of CEX in recent years, there are still occasional security incidents caused by external attacks or internal management negligence, shaking user confidence.

Summary

Looking back at 2024, Centralized Exchanges (CEX) still dominated the vast majority of trading volume in the cryptocurrency market. Quarterly performance showed typical market cyclic fluctuations, with a strong rebound in Q4 driving the annual trading volume to exceed 76.88T, leading to impressive gains for many platform coins by the end of the year. Meanwhile, although Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) only accounted for less than 3% of market share in 2024, their growth rate is remarkable. CEX needs to continue to maintain its leading position in technology, liquidity, compliance, etc. in 2025, while actively expanding into decentralized scenarios and cross-chain services to enhance overall competitiveness.

Looking ahead, in the context of increasingly stringent global regulations and institutional participation, CEX will face higher compliance thresholds and more stringent security requirements; however, as long as it maintains prudent risk control and product innovation, CEX still has the potential to occupy a leading position in the expanding crypto ecosystem. For the platform Coin, the market opportunities and challenges coexist in 2025, and investors can make a more rational assessment and decision by combining the substantial business progress of the platform, the ecological support of the project, and the macro market environment.