Crypto derivatives trading in 2025 remained heavily centralized, with total volume reaching $85.7 trillion and centralized exchanges dominating price discovery and risk management. Trading activity followed a slow start and strong finish, reflecting tight macro liquidity early in the year and rising risk appetite later on.

Binance strengthened its leadership, capturing over 29% of global derivatives volume and around 28% of average daily open interest, while the top five exchanges controlled more than 80% of total leverage. Market activity peaked on October 10, when single-day volume hit $748 billion and open interest reached a record high before a sharp deleveraging in Q4.

Liquidity, custody, and risk were highly concentrated. Binance held over 72% of custodial assets, underscoring an extreme oligopolistic structure. Although total liquidations approached $150 billion for the year, systemic stress was largely confined to the October macro shock, which triggered massive liquidations and disproportionately impacted altcoins, while Bitcoin and Ethereum saw more moderate drawdowns.