DEXs hit record 25% share of spot trading volume against CEXs in May

Decentralized exchanges attained a 25% share of global spot trade volume compared to centralized exchanges in May, marking a record high.

According to The Block's data dashboard , DEXs saw a total monthly trade volume of $410.2 billion in May, led by PancakeSwap, which had $171.6 billion. Aerodrome and PumpSwap followed with monthly volumes of close to $15 billion. 

The previous high record was in January of this year, when DEXs accounted for 20% of spot crypto trade volume compared to CEXs.

"This is not merely a change in market share," said Simon Kim, CEO and partner at crypto venture capital firm Hashed. "It signals a clear paradigm shift from centralized to decentralized, from trust-based to code-based trading systems."

According to Kim, DEXs have established themselves as the "core infrastructure" of blockchain financial ecosystems, citing composability, permissionless innovation, and cross-chain interoperability as the key strengths of decentralized trading platforms.

DEX trade volume's recent surge can be attributed to last year's surge in on-chain trading of memecoins, with some prominent ones launching on DEXs first, Kim said. Improvements in personal crypto wallet usability and a decline in trust in centralized platforms have also contributed to the rise of DEXs. He predicted that DEXs will overtake CEXs in trade volume in 2028 and become dominant by 2030. 

"Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of P2P electronic cash systems is now expanding into complete financial ecosystems through DEXs," Kim said. "While CEXs still cast shadows of traditional finance, DEXs are true embodiments of blockchain spirit."