Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has seen a sharp decline in Bitcoin trading volumes this month due to increased legal and regulatory pressure from various countries.
According to a report by K33 Research, Binance's 7-day average spot BTC volume has fallen by 57% since the beginning of September, while other exchanges have maintained or increased their volumes. The BTC volume of Coinbase, a US-based competitor, increased by 9% in the same period.
The report argues that ongoing lawsuits and investigations against Binance by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have affected the volume. According to analysts, some of the trading activity may have shifted to other exchanges, however, the overall market volume may have been negatively affected by the problems experienced by Binance.
Binance also removed its zero-fee promotion for BTC trades with the TrueUSD (TUSD) stablecoin, one of the most liquid trading pairs, on September 7, which may have contributed to lower volume.
Binance.US, the US arm of Binance, also experienced a dramatic decline in trading activity. Data from crypto analytics firm Kaiko shows that total weekly trading volume on Binance.US dropped to $40 million from around $5 billion earlier this year, representing a decline of roughly 99%.
*This is not investment advice.