Analysis: Due to tariff threats causing investor worries, cryptocurrency trading volume decreased by 20% in February

According to CoinDesk, due to concerns that US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and other countries will suppress international trade, investors' demand for increased risk investment has decreased, leading to a significant decline in cryptocurrency trading volume in February. The total volume of spot and derivative trades on centralized exchanges fell by 21% to $7.2 trillion, the lowest level since October last year.

Derivative trading also saw a significant drop with CME, the largest institutional cryptocurrency trading venue recording its first decrease in five months. CME's trading volume dropped by 20% to $229 billion; Bitcoin futures activity declined by 20% to $175 billion; Ethereum futures fell by 13% to $35.9 billion. The decline in trading volumes coincided with a drop in BTC CME's annualized basis which fell down to 4.08%, the lowest level since March 2023.

Despite this however, CME’s market share among derivatives exchanges grew up till an all-time high of 4.67%. This growth indicates that despite weakening retail trade activities - Robinhood (HOOD) recently reported a decrease of its crypto-trading volume by 29% during February - there is still interest from institutions within this industry.

In addition, the total open contracts across all pairs on centralized exchanges have fallen down by about thirty percent at around seventy-eight point eight billion dollars ($78.8 billion), reflecting severe liquidations suffered during recent declines – it was at its lowest since November fifth.