Token data and rating company TokenInsight reported that while Binance exchange lost altitude, OKX and Bybit rose. Accordingly, Binance’s market share dropped from 54.2% to 48.7% in 2023.
Binance Loses Altitude but Remains the Leader
According to the report prepared by TokenInsight, the market share of Binance, which started 2023 with a 54.2% market share, fell to 48.7%. The market shares of OKX and Bybit exchanges increased by 4.3% and 2.2% respectively during the same period, making them the crypto exchanges that benefited the most from Binance’s loss of altitude.
In 2023, Binance was at the top in terms of cumulative trading volume, followed by Upbit and OKX. A similar trend was observed on the crypto derivatives side. Binance also ranked first here, followed by OKX and Bybit exchanges.
2023 Was a Challenging Year for Binance
2023 was another eventful year for cryptocurrencies, as every year is. After a long bear season accompanied by many negatives throughout 2022, cryptocurrencies managed to turn their downward trend upwards following a succession of positive news after entering 2023. Especially 2023 was tough for Binance.
In June, the crypto sector was shaken by a move from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and its CEO at the time, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). By November, there was a significant development in the long-standing investigation against Binance.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) directed serious accusations at Binance, such as violating sanctions and failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. The DoJ offered the crypto exchange some terms for a settlement regarding these crimes. Binance agreed to the settlement, accepting to pay a substantial fine of 4.3 billion dollars for all the charges. The most striking condition among the settlement terms was the demand for CZ‘s resignation.
Following this, Binance’s founder CZ resigned from his CEO position at the company and was released on bail at the first hearing of the lawsuit filed against him in the U.S. However, the court later imposed a travel ban on CZ from the U.S. until the next hearing in February 2024.
