In June, the decentralized to centralized exchange immediate ratio attained an unprecedented maximum of 37.4%, principally because of “a surge in PancakeSwap’s transactional flows,” as affirmed by CoinGecko evaluator Yuqian Lim.
Digital currency decentralized trading platform volumes have escalated to a climax relative to their centralized equivalents, impelled by a “speculative craze for meme-themed digital assets,” it is stated by CoinGecko.
The proportion of instantaneous digital asset trading on decentralized platforms relative to centralized venues (CEXs) has been magnified over three times in the preceding five years to attain fresh peaks in 2025, it was declared by CoinGecko research expert Yuqian Lim in a document issued on Thursday.
The decentralized to centralized exchange immediate ratio achieved an unprecedented pinnacle of 37.4% in June following a sharp rise in meme-token fascination and “a sharp increase in PancakeSwap’s transactional flows attributed to instructions transmitted from the Binance Alpha platform, which was inaugurated in May,” Lim articulated.
For extended periods, centralized venues such as Binance and Coinbase have commanded the majority of instantaneous digital asset trading volume due to their capabilities and simplicity of operation, but decentralized platforms have augmented their provisions in an effort for patronage to be secured from investors.
DEX Trading Shows Growing Signs of Staying Power
Subsequent to reaching a fresh maximum in June, the decentralized to centralized exchange immediate ratio has receded to approximately 21% as of November, indicating the fifth successive month where the proportion has been sustained near the 20% threshold, according to Lim.
“This is well above the stagnant DEX to CEX spot ratios seen in previous years and potentially indicates stickiness in DEXs’ growing market share of spot trading volume.”
Lim asserted that decentralized exchange instantaneous volumes from May to October have concurrently been maintained exceeding prior years and registered an unprecedented maximum of $419 billion in October, in spite of a broad market adjustment being witnessed.
“This seems to further highlight a gradual but steady shift in preferences toward onchain trading,”
she said.
DEX Futures Trading Hits a New High in November
Concurrently, the decentralized to centralized exchange derivative trading ratio, which compares the share of all perpetual forward contracts exchanged on the two categories of venues, has similarly been escalating, achieving an unprecedented pinnacle of 11.7% in November 2025.
Perpetual decentralized exchanges (perp DEXs) have experienced a resurgence in 2025, after a tenfold year-on-year surge in transactional magnitude was recorded, culminating in an unprecedented maximum of $903 billion in October, Lim noted.
“As with spot trading, perpetuals trading volumes on DEXs have only started to close the gap with CEXs this year. In fact, November marks the 14th consecutive month for which the DEX to CEX perps volume ratio has seen month-on-month growth,”
she said.
Lim indicated that the ascension of fresh perpetual decentralized exchange participants such as Hyperliquid, Lighter, and edgeX is recognized as principal catalysts, some of which have provided rewards to secure the allegiance of investors.
“Hyperliquid alone has recorded $2.74 trillion in perps volume so far this year, which puts it on par with Coinbase and is more than the other top perp DEXs combined,”
Lim said.
“However, it remains to be seen if DEX perps volumes will maintain at current levels after the widespread incentive programs end,”
she added.
