Crypto Exchange Volumes Jump 36% in October, Kucoin Leads Market Surge

Crypto markets showed a strong bounce in October 2025, with centralised exchanges (CEXs) really stepping up their spot trading volume – a 36% month-on-month jump.

• Kucoin led the way with a 240% increase, clearly demonstrating its growing market presence.

• Bitfinex was close behind with a +67% increase, while Gate grew by 45%. –

• Meanwhile, Upbit saw a slight slip of -1%, while Bitget and Bybit squeezed out small gains of +16% and +22%, respectively, but didn’t really share in the overall euphoria.

The gains we saw are largely down to investors feeling more confident in the crypto space, thanks to increased liquidity and momentum after a pretty quiet September.

Derivatives Trading Sees 27% Bump

The derivatives market also saw a pretty big surge, up 27% as people were more inclined to take on some risk, and Kucoin was once again the big winner, reporting a worrying 185% increase in derivatives volume

• Deribit and Crypto.com US: Securely Buy, Sell and Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and 400+ Crypto followed close behind with +66% and +41% respectively

• Places like Bitget actually saw a drop of -2%, while Gate was up by +21% and Binance had a solid +26%

This uptick in derivatives trading is clear: people are becoming more willing to take on bigger trades and are looking to cash in on bigger gains.

Website Traffic Showing Retail Interest Coming Back

Visits to exchange websites rose by 5% in October, which sort of suggests that retail investors are starting to get interested again

• Gate (+22%), Bitfinex (+18%), and Upbit (+17%) all saw a pretty big bump in traffic

• On the flip side, places like HTX (-32%), Bitmart (-16%), and MEXC (-9%) all took a bit of a hit in terms of traffic

Now, some of those reported volumes might be slightly skewed by wash trading or bot activity. Still, the overall picture is that the market is definitely regaining some momentum.