New data has revealed that cryptocurrency exchange Binance has experienced a loss in market share after it ended its zero-free Bitcoin (BTC) trading.
A report by CCData released in mid-May revealed that the exchange market share has continued to slide for the second consecutive, to 46.3%. This marks Binance’s lowest percentage of market share since October 2022.
The market share drop follows Binance’s decision to end its zero-fee BTC trading promotion for most BTC trading pairs. A representative from Binance spoke to Cointelegraph saying:
“We forecast a drop in market share once we ended our zero-fee BTC trading promotion for most trading pairs. This is not a concern for us. We continue to maintain our strong financial performance.”
The spokesperson added that right now Binance’s goal is to cater to users through new and existing products while “continuing to invest in compliance processes for a new era of regulatory certainty.”
Previously, Binance controlled over half of the market share, with some numbers as high as 57.5%. In addition, the report noted that spot trading on Binance fell by 48.1% to $287 billion in April.
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While the next largest exchanges Coinbase and OKX make up only 5.60% and 5.39% of the total spot trading market, there has been small momentum gained by smaller exchanges. Upbit, for example, currently accounts for 4.77% of the market share compared to 2.81% at the start of 2023.
The spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph that it sees competition as something positive for the space.
“Binance welcomes and encourages competition, it drives innovation and is healthy for the industry.”
These developments come as Binance experiences other changes in its operations aside from ending zero-fee BTC trading. On May 12, the company announced that it has decided to end its operations in Canada, citing new regulations.
Shortly after that announcement, reports began to surface about Binance’s plans to lay off 20% of its workforce this June, which contradicts previous statements saying the company did not have any layoffs planned.
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