Global cryptocurrency trade volumes saw a significant drop in December, the last month of one of the hardest years for the entire crypto industry.
Following the recent rate hike moves seen worldwide, the price of the world’s leading crypto, Bitcoin, dropped to the lowest of $16,400, the value last seen in November 2020, while Ethereum ended the month with a 7 per cent drop to $1,195.
According to data presented by research platform Crypto Presales, Tether, Bitcoin, and Binance USD were the three most traded cryptos in the last 30 days, but their trading volumes dropped deep below the levels seen a month before.
Tether, Bitcoin monthly trading volume plunge
Approaching the end of the year, many traders and crypto investors took a break, causing a slowdown in crypto trading activity.
In November, Tether hit a record trading volume of $59.6 trillion as investors flew to the safety of US dollar-denominated tokens after the collapse of FTX. Although the world’s leading stablecoin remained the most traded cryptocurrency, its trading volume slumped to only $603 billion in December, or 98 times less than the value seen a month before.
The CoinMarketCap data show Bitcoin’s trading volume tanked 33 per cent month-over-month, falling from nearly $635 billion in November to $420 billion in December. Furthermore, this was the second month in a row in which Bitcoin’s trading volume stood deep below $1 trillion seen earlier in 2022.
With $123.7 billion in 30-day trading volume, Binance USD ranked as the third most-traded crypto, one spot above Ethereum. Still, like other cryptocurrencies, it also witnessed a considerable month-over-month drop, with its trading volume plunging by 55 per cent compared to November.
ETH’s trading volume continued falling throughout December and hit less than $100 billion, representing a 70 per cent drop month-over-months and 80 per cent less than $475 billion seen in October.
With $72.8 billion in 30-day trading volume, a massive 40 per cent drop month-over-month, USD Coin ranked as the fifth most popular crypto to trade in December.
Aptos, Zilliqa enters top ten list in December
The CoinMarketCap data show significant changes in the other half of the list, with four out of five cryptos ranked in November losing their spot last month.
XRP, WETH, Dogecoin, and Polygon were all among the ten most-traded cryptos in November but didn’t even make it to the list in December as their trading volumes slumped.
Statistics show Solana was the sixth most-traded crypto last month, with $64.2 billion in 30-day trading volume. Far below, with a trading volume of $19.7 billion, BNB ranked as the seventh most popular crypto to trade.
Compared to November, three new cryptos entered the most-traded list. With $18.1 billion in monthly trading volume, Aptos ranked eighth on the list of most popular coins. Also, statistics show the price of the APT token jumped by 20 per cent in the last month, rising from $4.67 to $5.62.
Cardano and Zilliqa close the top ten list, with $18 billion and $14.1 billion in monthly trading volume, respectively.
