Decentralized exchanges experienced their most active month ever. According to DefiLlama, DEX trading volume in October reached $613.3 billion, increasing by almost a quarter compared to $500 billion in September. The record was set amid rising volatility and traders repositioning.
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Uniswap maintained its status as the largest decentralized platform with a turnover of $170.9 billion versus $106.5 billion a month earlier. PancakeSwap took second place with $101.9 billion, and Curve came third, trailing in volume but maintaining a stable market share.
According to Vincent Liu, Investment Director at Kronos Research, the growth is explained not only by users’ desire to self-custody their assets:
‘Traders are going on-chain not only for transparency and control over their funds, but also to participate in liquidity mining and new airdrops that stimulate activity.’
Centralized exchanges are also on the rise
In October, trading volume also increased on centralized platforms. According to The Block, it reached $2.17 trillion — the highest since January 2025 and up 28% from September ($1.69 trillion).
Binance retained its leadership with $810.4 billion in monthly volume versus $636.5 billion a month earlier. Gate took second place with $175.6 billion, followed by Bybit ($156.9 billion) and Bitget ($134.7 billion).
Interest in DEX is growing
The DEX to CEX volume ratio rose to 19.84% in October compared to 18.83% a month earlier, indicating increased interest in decentralized platforms.
Min John from research company Presto Research notes that the surge in activity on both sides of the market was triggered by the price drop on October 10:
‘A sharp drop in bitcoin caused strong volatility and pushed investors to actively rebalance their portfolios. If new drivers appear — macro data or news about US-China trade relations — volumes may remain high in November.’
Volatility and new narratives
On October 10, bitcoin fell from $121.5K to $110K, and a week later — to $104.6K. By the end of the month, the price recovered to $107.9K. According to Liu from Kronos Research, it was the sharp market moves and new ‘stories’ that fueled traders’ interest:
‘The surge in activity in October was linked to chasing new themes — from BNB Chain meme coins to privacy tokens and ETF flows.’
He added that with the return of volatility, the market could maintain a high pace: ‘November started with momentum, and capital continues to look for the next wave of opportunities.’
What’s next?
Strong swings in October led to increased volumes on both centralized and decentralized exchanges. Investors are more actively diversifying trading between platforms, and interest in DEX continues to grow amid the trend toward non-custodial solutions and transparency.
Analysts expect that if volatility and active capital rotation persist, November could be another strong month for trading volumes.
Read more: Retail investors are cutting positions, bitcoin is close to $100,000
