Decentralized exchange trading volume grows 88% following SEC lawsuits Decentralized exchange trading volume grows 88% following SEC lawsuits
The SEC's actions against industry giants has pushed traders to decentralized alternatives.
2 min read
Updated: Jun. 6, 2023 at 2:43 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) jumped by 88% in the 24 hours after the news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued centralized crypto exchange Binance.
On June 5, the financial regulator filed 13 charges against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for violating federal securities law and further alleged that the exchange facilitated the trading of crypto securities tokens.
Following the news, DEXs’ trading volume went from $1.2 billion on June 4 to $3.09 billion on June 5, according to data from DeFiLlama.
Uniswap dominates volume
DeFiLlama data showed that the dominant DEX during the reporting hours was Uniswap (UNI), which accounted for nearly 50% of the total volume. The platform saw its trading volume increase by over 200% to $1.48 billion across multiple chains.
During the period, PancakeSwap (CAKE) saw its volume rise 75% to $481.84 million across Ethereum and BNB smart chain.
Other protocols that recorded significant changes in their trading volume include Dodo with $163.92 million, Curve Finance (CRV) with $156.9 million, and Level Finance with $117.55 million.
Dex’s trading volume on the up
Before the SEC’s lawsuit, trading volume across decentralized exchanges had experienced an uptick thanks to the proliferation of meme coins like PEPE, WOJAK, Turbo, and others.
K33 Research pointed out that DEX volume was nearing the highs of late 2021/early 2022 as a percentage of all trading volume.
Meanwhile, this rise has coincided with a period when centralized exchanges’ trading volume has dropped to its lowest levels since 2020. Centralized platforms have faced heightened regulatory scrutiny from regulators attempting to prevent another event like FTX’s collapse in 2022.
Despite the increased use of decentralized exchanges, the trading volume is still relatively low compared to its previous peaks. In May, the overall DEX volume was $72 billion, far below the $234.27 billion recorded in November 2021, according to DeFiLlama data.
DEX tokens down
However, the shift to DEXs has translated into a positive price performance for the native tokens of these exchanges. According to CryptoSlate’s data, tokens in the sector fell 6.51% in the last 24 hours and by more than 10% in the past week.
The sector’s top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap saw losses during the reporting period, with 1Inch topping the losers list with an 11% decline.
The SEC followed yesterday’s actions by filing suit against Coinbase this morning.
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Author 
Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
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Since its inception, the Uniswap Protocol (“Uniswap”) has served as a trustless and highly decentralized financial infrastructure.
PancakeSwap
$1.99685
PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange for swapping BEP20 tokens on Binance Smart Chain.
1inch
$0.33859
1inch is a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator that sources liquidity from various exchanges and is capable of splitting a single trade transaction across multiple DEXes.
Curve DAO Token
$0.40925
Curve DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is a decentralized platform built on the Ethereum blockchain that aims to provide a stable and efficient market for trading stablecoins.
Binance
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.