Bullish Trading Volume Drops, Spreads Widen

Bullish, the crypto exchange owned by CoinDesk's parent company, reported a substantial 42.9% year-over-year decrease in trading volume for July, reaching $30.7 billion. This figure also represented a 39.7% drop from the previous month.

Despite the declining activity, the exchange managed to widen its average trading spread by 72.4% compared to the prior year. This spread, which includes commissions and reflects changes in perpetual futures fair value and rebates, rose to 2.62 basis points. While the wider spread partially offset the volume reduction in a derived proxy calculation, it did not fully compensate for the loss of trading activity, resulting in a 1.6% year-over-year decrease in the proxy.

Within the reported figures, spot trading volume experienced a significant decline, falling to $29.1 billion in July from $45.5 billion in June and $48.8 billion in July of the previous year. Ethereum's spot volume was particularly affected, dropping to $3 billion from $4.9 billion in June and a considerable $11.1 billion in July 2025, marking a 73% year-over-year decrease.