Cantor's Monthly Exchange Report: May 2026

Research evidence excerpt

Cantor's Monthly Exchange Report: May 2026

Crypto & Blockchain

EQUITY RESEARCH Industry Report

June 9, 2026

Research Analysts:

This is the Cantor Digital Assets Research Team's May exchange report on trading Brett Knoblauch, CFA

212-610-2221 volumes across spot, futures, and options on both centralized and decentralized

Brett.Knoblauch@cantor.com exchanges (last month's report here).

Gareth Gacetta May marked a stabilization in global crypto trading activity following several months of 212-915-1251

Gareth.Gacetta@cantor.com contraction, with decentralized venues showing signs of renewed momentum despite

Nathan Frankovitz continued but moderating weakness across centralized exchanges. Total CEX volumes

929-706-2050 declined -1.0% m/m to $4.0trn, marking the second consecutive month at the lowest

Nathan.Frankovitz@cantor.com

levels seen since October 2024, while DEX volumes increased 5.1% m/m to $787bn.

Within centralized markets, BTC options led the decline (-5.9% m/m), followed by ETH

options (-4.0% m/m) and futures (-2.6% m/m), while spot trading volumes increased

5.6% m/m, representing the first monthly increase since January. On decentralized

exchanges, perpetual futures volumes increased 7.2% m/m, posting their first monthly

gain since October 2025, while spot volumes declined a relatively modest -1.3% m/

m following three months of double-digit declines. DEX perpetuals accounted for

approximately 76% of total DEX volume in May, gaining ~1.5 percentage points of

market share versus April and remaining within the 70–80% range that has persisted

since October 2025. Overall, May’s activity suggests that traders are gravitating

toward onchain derivatives infrastructure, with the rebound in DEX perpetual volumes