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Liquidity dries up across crypto derivatives markets
Data from the derivatives markets demonstrates that December 2025 stands out as the month with the lowest trading volumes of the year, reflecting a disengagement of leveraged traders. This chart highlights the trading volumes of the top 10 coins aggregated across several major exchanges. We can observe a broad-based decline in liquidity, confirming that the slowdown is not isolated to a single platform but affects the entire ecosystem. This is Binance, which still dominates with approximately $1.19 trillion in monthly trading volume. However, this figure remains particularly low. It is nearly half of the volume recorded in August 2025 and represents the weakest month of the year in terms of trading activity. A similar trend is observed across other major exchanges. OKX recorded only $581 billion in trading volume, while Bybit was limited to $421 billion. These levels further confirm a significant liquidity contraction in the derivatives markets, mechanically reducing risk appetite and the use of leverage. This decline in volumes reflects investor behavior in an unfavorable market environment. The increase in liquidations, combined with a period of heightened market uncertainty and unclear directionality, has reinforced risk aversion. In such conditions, market participants clearly prioritize capital preservation over performance. Historically, this type of contraction in derivatives activity often corresponds to transitional phases, during which the market flushes out excess leverage before rebuilding a healthier trend.