Crypto traders spent the summer mostly watching from the sidelines. In September 2026, they came back.
Spot trading volume across 14 major exchanges reached $696.7 billion last month, according to data compiled by WuBlockchain. That is a 36.5% jump from the $510.4 billion recorded in August.
Every exchange in WuBlockchain’s 14-platform sample posted higher volume in September than in August.
Binance remained the undisputed heavyweight. The exchange processed $307.8 billion in spot trades, giving it a 44.2% share of the sampled market.
OKX took second place with $65.8 billion, good for a 9.5% share. Coinbase followed closely at $61.3 billion, or 8.8% of the total.
Together, the top three accounted for 62.4% of the market. That figure is actually down from 64.8% in August.
CoinDesk’s data showed centralized exchange spot volume climbing 27.3% month over month to $1.13 trillion. Within that number, top-tier centralized platforms handled $816 billion, a 29.3% rise.
Decentralized exchanges also had a respectable showing. DEX spot volume reached $279 billion, representing a 19.8% market share in CoinDesk’s figures.
The volume surge lined up with a move higher in the market’s flagship asset. Bitcoin climbed from approximately $77,000 to $83,000 over the course of September.
Notably, the growth in spot trading outpaced growth in derivatives volume during the month.
The reports, released between October 10 and 13, 2026, carried warnings about possible wash trading and bot activity inflating the numbers. The same reports also raised the issue of standardizing methodology across trackers.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.