CoinGecko’s Spot CEX Report 2026 lands with a familiar message and a few uncomfortable reminders. Centralized exchanges are still the main stage for crypto trading, and they are still moving an absurd amount of money. But the way that money moves, and where it sits, is starting to look different. According to the report, the top 12 centralized exchanges processed nearly $21 trillion in spot volume in 2025 alone. That is not a sign of a fading market. It is a sign of one that has grown up, become more selective, and become a lot more dependent on a handful of core assets.
The biggest takeaway is still the same old pair of stablecoins: USDT and USDC. CoinGecko says they accounted for 66.6% of all trading pairs across the top 12 exchanges, which is a pretty clear sign of where liquidity actually lives. Out of 9,870 stablecoin pairs, 9,646 were either USDT or USDC pairs.
That works out to 97.7% of all stablecoin pairings. In other words, the market may keep talking about innovation, but when traders show up and need to move size, they are still reaching for the same dependable rails. Even though non-stablecoin pairs make up a meaningful share of the listings, they do not carry the same weight in actual trading activity. CoinGecko notes that at their peak in November 2024, non-stablecoin pairs accounted for only 23% of market share by volume.
That same gap between excitement and reality shows up when the report turns to new listings. Getting listed on a major exchange is still a big deal, but it is no longer the kind of automatic launchpad it once was. Across the top 12 CEXs, only about 32% of newly listed tokens were in positive territory right after listing. Upbit stood out with 67% of tokens still green 30 days after listing, though it also has one of the lowest listing rates. Binance and OKX followed at 50%. But the post-listing glow fades fast.
After the first month, performance compresses sharply, and by the end of the year, fewer than 10% of listed tokens on most of the major exchanges are still trading above their listing price. CoinGecko points out that Upbit, despite its strong early showing, also sees new listings drop below water the fastest.
Major Changes in the CEX Market
The report’s reserve data tells another important part of the story. Total underlying assets across the top 12 exchanges rose from $152.1 billion at the start of 2024 to $225.4 billion by the end of February 2026, a jump of 69.6%. That sounds like a straightforward win for the industry, but the details matter. Binance was the clear leader, with reserves doubling from $46.7 billion to $93.4 billion.
Coinbase still held the largest BTC reserves, with more than 800,000 BTC, followed by Binance with 669,000 BTC. At the same time, Coinbase saw meaningful outflows from its BTC and ETH reserves, while smaller venues like Bitget and MEXC recorded huge reserve growth of 262.0% and 274.6%, respectively. That suggests capital is not just growing. It is moving around.
CoinGecko also draws a pretty sharp line between institutional-style exchanges and the more retail-driven names. Regulated platforms such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken showed lower volume-to-reserve ratios, around 0.1, which points to a user base that leans more toward custody and less toward nonstop turnover.
By contrast, Bybit and Bitget posted much higher ratios, around 0.3 and 0.5, which suggests heavier trading activity relative to deposits. Smaller reserve exchanges such as MEXC, HTX, and KuCoin went even further, with asset velocity ratios ranging from 1.44 to 2.04. That means users on those venues are trading far more aggressively compared with the assets sitting on the platform.
Taken together, the report shows a market that is still enormous, but no longer simple. Stablecoins are still the backbone of spot trading. Listings still create headlines, but not always lasting demand. And exchange reserves are growing, even as the capital behind them becomes more mobile and more unevenly distributed. The days when “bigger exchange” automatically meant “stronger position” are fading. What matters now is who can keep liquidity, retain users, and make reserves work efficiently in a market that is much more disciplined than it used to be.
