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July DEX-to-CEX spot volume ratio hits record 24.14%

July DEX-to-CEX spot volume ratio hits record 24.14%

DEX spot trading took a record share of centralized exchange volume in July as CEX spot activity weakened sharply in a shrinking market, while Ethereum-based DEX volume fell back to October 2023 levels.

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Fact Check
PANews and Odaily independently report the exact figure of 24.14% for July's DEX-to-CEX spot trading volume ratio, both attributing it to The Block's data dashboard and describing it as a record high. The Block's dashboard 'DEX to CEX Spot Trade Volume (Percentage)' confirms this specific metric is tracked. Multiple aggregators echo the same number, and no conflicting figures were found. The exact underlying dashboard value could not be independently read (chart data not rendered in fetched text), which keeps this at high rather than absolute confidence.
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Summary

Decentralized exchanges handled spot volume equal to 24.14% of centralized exchange volume in July, the highest ratio since The Block's data series began in 2019 and up from 17% a year earlier. The record share came as centralized spot trading weakened markedly, pushing the broader spot market close to a 12-month low of about $670 billion, well below this year's peak of $2.23 trillion. The metric covers spot trading only, excluding futures and other derivatives, and mainly includes decentralized venues such as Uniswap and Aerodrome. The Block said the rise in DEX share does not necessarily signal a broad surge in onchain trading activity, but rather a structural shift driven by shrinking CEX spot volumes as traders increasingly use onchain alternatives. That softer backdrop is also visible on Ethereum, where DEX spot volume fell to $29 billion in July, down 76% from the record $122 billion in August 2025 and back to October 2023 levels, according to CryptoRank data. Wu Blockchain said Ethereum-based DEX trading volume has recently been declining by an average of 12.5% a month and projected that, if the trend continues, it could fall to $21.2 billion in about three months, the lowest level in five years.

Terms & Concepts
  • DEX: A decentralized exchange that lets users trade onchain without a traditional centralized intermediary.
  • CEX: A centralized exchange operated by a company that matches and processes trades for users.
  • spot trading: Trading in which assets are bought or sold for immediate settlement, excluding futures and other derivatives.