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Cryptocurrency derivatives trading reached nearly $85.7 trillion in 2025, cementing leveraged products as the core driver of digital asset market activity.
Average daily derivatives turnover stood at roughly $264.5 billion, far surpassing spot market volumes.
Binance retained its position as the world’s largest crypto derivatives venue throughout the year.
The exchange recorded approximately $25.09 trillion in cumulative derivatives volume.
CoinGlass data showed Binance accounted for about 29.3% of all global crypto derivatives trading.
OKX, Bybit and Bitget followed closely, each posting annual volumes between $8.2 trillion and $10.8 trillion.
Together, the four exchanges controlled roughly 62.3% of total global derivatives market share.
Analysts said the figures highlight how concentrated liquidity remains despite the growing number of platforms.
Derivatives continued to play a central role in price discovery across digital assets.
CoinGlass noted a structural shift in derivatives usage during 2025.
Earlier market cycles were dominated by retail traders chasing high leverage and short-term momentum.
In contrast, 2025 saw greater institutional participation using futures and options for hedging and basis trades.
Exchange-traded fund activity also contributed to rising derivatives demand.
Regulated venues benefited from these trends alongside offshore exchanges.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange strengthened its position after overtaking Binance in Bitcoin futures open interest in 2024.
CME consolidated that lead throughout 2025 as institutional pathways expanded.
CoinGlass linked this growth to increased use of compliant futures, listed options and spot ETFs.
Offshore exchanges continued to handle the bulk of speculative volume.
Regulated markets absorbed longer-term positioning from asset managers and hedge funds.
As derivatives activity expanded, overall market complexity increased.
CoinGlass said the market moved away from simple boom-and-bust leverage cycles.
Interconnected positions across exchanges, ETFs and structured products became more common.
Extreme events that erupted during 2025 imposed stress tests of unprecedented scale on existing margin mechanisms, liquidation rules, and cross-platform risk transmission pathways.
CoinGlass said.
Global crypto derivatives open interest fell to around $87 billion after broad deleveraging in the first quarter.
Open interest then rebuilt steadily through mid-year.
On 7 October, total open interest reached a record $235.9 billion.
A sharp reset in early fourth quarter erased more than $70 billion in open positions.
The flash deleveraging wiped out roughly one-third of total open interest.
Even after the drawdown, year-end open interest stood at $145.1 billion.
CoinGlass said this still represented a 17% increase from the start of the year.
The most severe stress test occurred during October’s liquidation shock.
Total forced liquidations in 2025 were estimated at around $150 billion.
On 10 and 11 October alone, liquidations exceeded $19 billion.
Between 85% and 90% of liquidations came from long positions.
CoinGlass linked the sell-off to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports.
The policy shock pushed markets into a rapid risk-off move.
Analysts said the episode showed how macro events now propagate quickly through crypto derivatives markets.
With leverage chains spanning multiple venues, shocks increasingly ripple across the ecosystem.
CoinGlass concluded that derivatives are no longer a side market but the core arena for crypto risk and price formation.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $87,231.59.