https://ift.tt/5gUhF1I Trading Volume Surges Amid Retail Interest Surge

• Crypto exchanges have benefitted from the mainstreaming of digital assets.
• Trading volumes increased by more than 67 percent to $547 billion.

Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O), a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, reported a spike in quarterly trading volumes on a sequential basis on Thursday, citing price volatility as a draw for regular traders. However, the company cautioned that growth would decelerate in the current quarter.

During the three months ending December 31, trading volumes increased by more than 67 percent to $547 billion, with retail trading accounting for 32 percent of total volumes and crypto-assets accounting for 68 percent of total trading.

High Levels of Volatility

A statement from the company said:

“The sequential increase in retail Trading Volume was driven primarily by higher levels of volatility as well as strong consumer interest in a wider variety of crypto assets.”

Crypto exchanges have benefitted from the mainstreaming of digital assets, which has resulted in firms worldwide spending extensively on the expansion of their cryptocurrency infrastructure. But the price of bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, has fallen in recent months as global central banks herald the end of their post-pandemic stimulus programs, which began in 2009.

Rising geopolitical tensions have also impacted the original cryptocurrency, which fell to a one-month low on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, which triggered a worldwide sell-off in response. If the current quarter is compared to the final quarter of 2021, Coinbase thinks that retail monthly transacting users and overall trading volume will be lower in the current quarter. Coinbase, one of the world’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, went public in April via a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange.