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Exchange Wars: Who had the Best 2023?

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Teuta Franjkovic
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Key Takeaways

  • Binance’s user base has grown despite the company’s recent settlement with the DoJ.
  • The exchange’s spot market share has declined.
  • Bitget has seen a remarkable rise in its spot market share.
  • HTX’s spot market share has declined from 22% to 8% in the past year.

The cryptocurrency exchange landscape has undergone significant changes in the past year, with some exchanges thriving and others facing challenges. 

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reported  a 30% increase in its user base over the past year, reaching 170 million users.

Binance’s Growth Strategies Robust Despite Regulatory Scrutiny

Binance’s 2023 Annual Report , released on December 28, indicates the company’s growth strategies have remained robust. This is despite its recent settlement of $4.3 billion with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over money laundering charges.

The report highlights that Binance enhanced its on-ramp features throughout the year, listing 431 tokens, supporting 112 fiat currencies, and offering over 970 payment methods to its users. Additionally, the company increased its compliance budget by 35% from $158 million in 2022 to $213 million in 2023.

Despite an increase in its client base, Binance, along with other exchanges , has acknowledged a decline  in its spot market share. From a dominant position of 55% at the beginning of the year, Binance’s share dropped to 30.1% by December.

Richard Teng, Binance’s new CEO, has reassured  users the exchange has evolved from its initial growth-centric approach. Binance is now prioritizing the development of its infrastructure, particularly in the United Arab Emirates and France, and operates across 18 global jurisdictions.

Bitget Surges in Market Share as Rivals Catch Up to Binance

The CCData report further indicates a shift in the market landscape. For instance, OKX doubled its market share from 4% to 8% and Bybit grew from 1% to 6%.

Credit: CCData

In a remarkable rise, the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, relatively unknown just a few years ago, has achieved a spot market share of 4%  by November 2023, according to CoinGecko, with even higher rankings in the derivatives category. 

Gracy Chen, the managing director of Bitget, revealed in the company’s 2023 Annual Review that the exchange now boasts a cumulative 20 million users across its subsidiaries. This significant growth is largely attributed to a strategic $30 million investment in the multi-chain wallet BitKeep, which was subsequently rebranded  as Bitget Wallet.

Further expanding its influence in the industry, Bitget launched a $100 million Web3 fund in September. This fund is dedicated to supporting regional exchanges, data analytics companies, and media outlets within the Web3 ecosystem.

HTX’s Spot Market Share Plummets

On the other hand, the once-prominent HTX, previously known as Huobi Global, has experienced declining fortunes  throughout 2023. A CoinGecko report said its spot market share decreased to 8%, a significant drop from its peak of 22% in 2020 . Despite this, HTX still maintains a position among the top three exchanges.

The year began tumultuously for HTX , with reports of an alleged employee revolt over pay and working conditions, which was subsequently quelled by the senior management. Adding to its challenges, after rebranding in September, HTX faced a series of security breaches, suffering four hacks in just two months, impacting both its ecosystem and network of associated companies.

In response to these setbacks, Justin Sun, the de facto owner of HTX, has made a commitment to fully reimburse users for any losses incurred due to these incidents.

 

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Teuta Franjkovic

Teuta is a seasoned writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience. She has expertise in covering macroeconomics and technology as well as the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. She has worked for several publications as a journalist and editor, including Forbes, Bloomberg, CoinTelegraph, Coin Rivet, CoinSpeaker, VRWorld and Arcane Bear. Teuta began her professional career in 2005, working as a lifestyle writer at Cosmopolitan in Croatia. From there, she branched out to several other publications, covering mainly business and the economy. She then turned her attention to the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, believing that crypto is among the most important inventions in the history of humanity. Her involvement in fintech began in 2014 and she has since lent her expertise in writing, editing and gathering information about the world of crypto, blockchain, NFTs and Web3. An all-round news hound, mentor, editor, and writer, Teuta enjoys teamwork and good communication. She holds a WSET2 diploma and has a thing for chablis, punkrock music and shoes. She also holds a double MA in Political science and Entrepreneurship.
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