Crypto exchange Bullish has climbed to the third-largest position among centralized exchanges by spot trading volume in February, overtaking Coinbase amid a slowdown in overall market activity. The platform's volume surged 62.6% to $76 billion, securing a 5.06% market share. This shift highlights increasing competition in the sector as trading spreads across more platforms.
In February, Bullish, an institutional-focused crypto exchange and parent company of CoinDesk, achieved a significant milestone by becoming the third-largest centralized exchange based on spot trading volume. According to CoinDesk Data’s February Exchange Review, Bullish's spot trading reached $76 billion, marking a 62.6% increase from the previous month and its highest total since October 2025. This performance elevated its market share to 5.06%, surpassing Coinbase's 4.59% share and positioning Bullish ahead of the competitor for the first time.
The gains occurred against a backdrop of declining activity across centralized exchanges. Combined spot and derivatives trading volumes dropped 2.41% to $5.61 trillion, the lowest since October 2024. Spot trading specifically fell 3.01% to $1.50 trillion, while derivatives volumes decreased 2.41% to $4.11 trillion, comprising 73.2% of total activity. This slowdown aligned with reduced volatility in major cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, which traded within a narrow range of $60,000 to $70,000 for much of the month, despite fluctuations at the start and end.
Binance maintained its lead as the largest exchange, recording $331 billion in spot trading and a 22% market share—its lowest dominance since October 2020. The report suggests that trading activity is becoming more distributed among platforms, driven by competition over liquidity, incentives, and new products like tokenized securities and prediction markets. Bullish, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year, exemplifies this trend toward intensified rivalry in a quieter market environment.
