Derivatives trading is becoming the dominant force in crypto markets as Binance’s futures-to-spot ratio surged to 5.1, its highest level since mid-2023.
According to a March 12 analysis by CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn, the increase is driven by rapid growth in derivatives trading rather than a decline in spot market activity.
This represents a huge structural shift in the way people trade cryptocurrencies. Even though the spot trading volume has stayed relatively the same, the derivatives’ trading volume is growing at a fast pace on the leading exchanges.
According to CryptoQuant’s March 12 analysis, the futures-to-spot ratio compares trading volume in derivatives with trading volume in the spot market.
When the ratio grows, it usually means more people are participating in leveraged or speculative trading. It also suggests that fewer traders are directly buying and selling the underlying assets.
Source: X
Maartunn also stated in the CryptoQuant analysis that the increase in the futures-to-spot ratio is not because less people are using spot markets. It is because many more people are using derivatives markets.
In 2025, Binance had over $32.39 trillion in trading volume. In that year, derivatives were responsible for over $25.4 trillion of the trading volume, while spot was only $6.99 trillion. These numbers illustrate the enormous disparity between the two types of markets and how large the derivatives markets have grown versus the spot markets.
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CryptoQuant also analyzed the year-over-year trading volume for both futures and spot markets. Their findings show that Binance’s futures market saw a massive 19.7% year-over-year increase in trading volume.
It was up from $21.21 trillion in 2024 to $25.4 trillion in 2025. On the other hand, Binance’s spot market experienced almost no growth year-over-year (approximately 0%), staying consistent at $6.99 trillion.
This demonstrates why the futures-to-spot ratio is growing, as derivatives trading is increasing exponentially, while spot trading remains stagnant. This trend represents an increasing dependence on high-leverage trading strategies.
It can create a vicious cycle where extreme price swings can occur quickly due to the increased number of market participants using these types of strategies.
Binance is number one in the global perpetual futures trading volume, by a large margin over other players like OKX, Bybit, and MEXC, according to CryptoQuant’s exchange comparison charts. This further solidifies its position at the center of the global crypto derivatives marketplace.
While the derivatives activity has increased rapidly on the platform, Binance is still the leader in terms of spot trading volume among all major cryptocurrency exchanges. Other trading platforms, including Bybit, Crypto.com, OKX, Gate, Coinbase, and HTX, follow in no particular order in terms of total spot market share.
Source: CryptoQuant
A rising futures-to-spot ratio signals increasing leverage in crypto markets, which can intensify volatility and accelerate price movements.
This article contains market analysis and price predictions. These are not guarantees. Crypto markets are volatile. Always DYOR. Not financial advice.
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