By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 25th, 2024
Leading exchange Binance was recently crowned winner among exchange performances for 2022 after dominating the crypto space.
According to Arcane Research, Binance is the clear winner among crypto exchanges considering performance in 2022. An Arcane January 3rd report highlighted the Changpeng Zhao-led platform soared due to a favorable combination of factors. These include the fallout from FTX’s epic collapse and zero-fee Bitcoin (BTC) trading implementation. In addition, Binance undertook some notable global acquisitions in 2022 that further spurred its market dominance.
Highlights of ‘Binance Crypto Winner’ Report
Part of the Arcane report read:
“There are no other evident ‘winners’ of 2022 other than Binance when it comes to the crypto market structure and market dominance. No matter how you look at it in terms of trading activity, Binance is the crypto market.”
Furthermore, the report added:
“After lifting trading fees for its BTC spot pairs this summer, Binance completely overtook all market share in the spot market. While the organic nature of some of this volume may be negotiable, it’s non-negotiable that this has consolidated Binance’s dominance over BTC spot markets.”
As of December 28th last year, Binance had captured an overwhelming 92% of the BTC spot market. In addition, the prominent crypto exchange also controlled 61% of the Bitcoin derivatives market by volume. Considering Binance’s Bitcoin spot market dominance, the exchange only controlled 45% of the said market at the beginning of 2022. This development suggests that Binance more than doubled its BTC spot market control, with its derivatives market share increasing by a third. The spot trading volume is an indicator that measures the total amount of Bitcoin transactions on spot exchanges at any time.
According to the Arcane report, Binance experienced a rise in BTC spot market dominance before the FTX collapse. At the time, the ill-fated Bahamian exchange was Binance’s closest rival and the second-largest crypto exchange in the world by volume. Unsurprisingly, Binance’s Bitcoin spot market dominance began to surge following the removal of fees for specific trading pairs last July.
Binance Steepens Global Visibility
Binance also emerged crypto exchange winner for 2022 after consolidating its global coverage with some notable acquisitions. Late last year, the world’s largest exchange by trading volume acquired Japanese trading firm Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) on November 30th. At the time of the 100% acquisition, Binance CEO Zhao said that the exchange looked to enter the Japanese market. Binance’s buyout of SEBC marks the prominent exchange’s first license in East Asia.
Binance also increased its shareholding position at the Indonesian crypto brokerage platform Tokocrypto in December 2022. With that additional cash injection comes several shakeups at Tokocrypto. For instance, the Indonesian platform’s founder Pang Xue Kai will reportedly step down as chief executive officer. Pang Xue Kai will be replaced by Yudhono Rawis as Tokocrypto’s interim chief but will remain on the firm’s board of commissioners. At the time, the outgoing CEO explained that the move was to build a further physical trading platform for crypto assets.