Forbes Analysis: More than Half of 157 Crypto Exchanges Reported Bitcoin Volume May Be False

Forbes conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 157 cryptocurrency trading platforms around the world and found that more than half of Bitcoin's reported transaction volume may be false. Forbes estimated the industry’s global daily bitcoin volume at $128 billion on June 14. This is 51% less than the $262 billion in volumes submitted by trading platforms combined from multiple sources. In terms of bitcoin activity by these firms, 21 cryptocurrency exchanges generated more than $1 billion in daily trading activity, while the next 33 exchanged all contract types, spot, futures, and perpetual contracts. Deal volume ranged from $200 million to $999 million. For perpetual futures, Binance has a 27% market share, followed by FTX. Looking at spot bitcoin only, the top players are Binance, FTX, and OKX. Chicago-based CME Group is the market leader in bitcoin futures trading. The biggest problem areas regarding fake trading volumes are companies that boast of high trading volumes but operate with little or no regulation, notably Binance, MEXC Global, and Bybit. In total, the less regulated exchanges had a combined true volume of $89 billion (they claimed $217 billion). 573 million people visit cryptocurrency trading sites every month.