“Bitcoin and altcoin prices have pushed higher, but Glassnode data shows spot trading activity has dropped to its weakest levels since late 2023.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
Glassnode’s latest data shows that both bitcoin spot trading volume and aggregate altcoin spot volume have sunk to their lowest readings since November 2023, even as prices have climbed — a divergence that typically points to thinning market participation and fragile demand underneath the recent strength.
Spot volume is a metric that assesses actual buying and selling activity on exchanges, a barometer of real trading interest.
Traditionally, healthy price advances are supported by rising volumes, as fresh capital and buyers enter the market. But in this case, spot volumes have not only failed to increase alongside prices, they’ve fallen to year-long lows, underscoring a lack of broad participation behind the moves.
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This assessment reiterates issues raised in a CoinDesk research piece published in November, which documented how liquidity across centralized exchanges — including bitcoin and ether market depth — failed to recover fully after the October liquidation cascade.
The research highlighted that post-crash, order-book depth remained structurally lower than before the sell-off, suggesting a new, thinner baseline of liquidity that leaves markets more vulnerable to exaggerated price reactions.
The October event, which resulted in $19 billion worth of leveraged positions being wiped out in a matter of hours, did more than unwind overextended bets. It reshaped the market’s underlying structure, leading to a sustained pullback in remaining liquidity as market-making firms and liquidity providers pulled back, making markets shallower and less capable of absorbing large trades without meaningful price impact.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $93,500 after rising by 7.5% since Jan. 1, but the move on minimal volume is presenting traders with a number of warning signs.
KuCoin captured a record share of centralized exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the broader crypto market.
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per monthmarking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralized exchange volumeas KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumeswhich slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly spliteach exceeding $500 billion for the year, signaling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activityreinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activityindicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Bakkt, Figure and Hut 8 were among numerous crypto-related stocks posting double-digit percentage gains.
- Bitcoin jumped more than 3% on Monday to its highest level since mid-November, nearing the key $95,000 mark.
- XRP led the crypto rally with a 9% gain after breaking resistance on strong volume.
- It’s a good start to 2026, but bitcoin isn’t out of the woods yet, said one analyst.
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