CoinGecko 2026 Q1 Report: Crypto Total Market Cap Shrinks by Over 20%, Trading Volume Hits a New Low Since November 2023

According to CoinGecko’s 2026 first-quarter report, the global cryptocurrency market underwent a deep correction. The total crypto market cap fell from $3.02 trillion to $2.4 trillion, down 20.4% (about $622 billion), retreating roughly 45% from the all-time high in October 2025. Daily market trading volume also declined by 27.2%, dropping to $117.8 billion.

Bitcoin led the decline; this year’s first-quarter price fell by 22%, performing far worse than major U.S. stock indices. Traditional assets showed stronger resilience, drawing some funds out of the crypto market.

The stablecoin market remained broadly stable, with total market cap staying at $309.9 billion, but the market’s internal structure showed a clear trend toward differentiation;

Specifically, USDT’s issuance volume saw a significant decline for the first time since the second quarter, falling by 1.6% to $184.1 billion; USDC grew against the trend by 2.4%, reaching $77.1 billion; while emerging stablecoins such as USDS and USD1 saw increases of over 30% each.

Meanwhile, market trading activity also contracted significantly. Spot trading volume on the top ten centralized exchanges fell 39.1% compared with last quarter, to $2.7 trillion. March trading volume dropped to $0.8 trillion, hitting a new low since November 2023.

As for decentralized trading, Solana continued to lead with a 30.6% market share. In the first quarter, BSC edged out ETH (about 23.7%) with a 24.5% market share, maintaining second place.

In addition, amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, demand for commodity perpetual contracts on the decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid surged; both open interest and trading volume reached historic highs for multiple consecutive weeks.

Overall, in Q1 the market was pressured by both geopolitical tensions and expectations for Federal Reserve policy, but the growth potential shown in niche areas such as commodity derivatives on decentralized exchanges provides new reference directions for the contract market.

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