Banking, finance, and taxes

Over $600 Billion in Cryptocurrencies Traded in May

D-Keine / Getty Images

Cryptocurrency exchange tracker CoinMarketCap reported Wednesday that more than $606 billion in 1,633 different cryptocurrencies changed hands in May. The total is less than half the $1.4 trillion in more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies traded in April.

While April was a bullish month for cryptotraders, May was decidedly bearish.

The most heavily traded was Bitcoin, with a 30-day volume of $184.31 billion, followed by Tether with a volume of $92.65 billion and Ethereum with a volume of $76.54 billion.

For an interesting contrast in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin.com posted a list of the top 10 exchanges in August 2016, along with their trading volume for a 24-hour period. Of those, eight have been replaced on the list. Here are 2016’s top three exchanges, along with daily volume:

  • Okcoin.cn: $440.53 million
  • BtcTrade: $218.94 million
  • Huobi: $165.25 million

As of yesterday, Okcoin.cn ranked 188th, BtcTrade ranked 54th and Huobi ranked fourth. Two of 2016’s top exchanges are defunct.

The top four exchanges today and their 24-hour trading volumes all top $1 billion:

  • BitMEX: $2.49 billion
  • Binance: $1.56 billion
  • OKEx: $1.48 billion
  • Huobi: $1.13 billion

Cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin, had a massive price run-up in 2017, and that accounts for a boom in total daily trading volume from just over $1 billion in 2016 to $10.6 billion today. In 2016 there were 105 cryptocurrency exchanges, compared to 213 today.

Bitcoin June futures on the Cboe traded down about 1.9% in the noon hour Wednesday to $7,355, after opening at $7,495 this morning. Since futures trading began in March, the contracts have dropped by a third.

Nymex Bitcoin futures have lost more than 51% since futures trading began in January.

Find a Qualified Financial Advisor (Sponsor)

Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.