Key Takeaways
- • Grayscale Research estimates decentralized exchanges (DEXs) accounted for 7.6% of total global crypto trading volume in the first five months of 2025, up from roughly 3% in 2023.
- • DEXs are now broadly price competitive with centralized exchanges (CEXs): a volume-weighted average spot fee of about 12 basis points for DEXs versus 15 bps for CEXs, and perp fees of about 6 bps for DEXs versus 4 bps for CEXs.
- • Today crypto DEXs process nearly $10bn in average daily volume across spot and perpetual futures, with Hyperliquid accounting for roughly 80% of total perp ADV.
- • Grayscale expects CEXs to keep dominating large-cap assets such as Bitcoin, while DEXs become the first choice for long-tail assets and for users prioritizing transparency and permissionless access.
- • Grayscale Research believes market leadership will consolidate into one or two dominant venues in each segment (CEX vs. DEX, spot vs. perpetual futures).
Summary
Grayscale's report "DEX Appeal: The Rise of Decentralized Exchanges" examines how decentralized venues are gaining share in crypto trading, which remains dominated by centralized exchanges structured as traditional businesses. According to Grayscale Research, DEXs accounted for 7.6% of total global crypto trading volume in the first five months of 2025, up from just 3% in 2023, and represent a larger share of CEX volume than before. The report attributes the growth in part to the breakout success of Hyperliquid, a decentralized futures exchange.
DEXs settle trades on-chain without a centralized operator, either as smart-contract applications on blockchains such as Ethereum or Solana, or as exchange logic embedded in a layer-one protocol such as Hyperliquid. Grayscale notes that DEXs now compete on price: based on data from the first five months of 2025, volume-weighted average spot fees were about 15 bps for CEXs and 12 bps for DEXs, while perp fees averaged about 4 bps for CEXs and 6 bps for DEXs. The report cautions that these averages mask wide variation across venues and tokens.
Grayscale expects exchanges broadly to benefit from rising volumes while facing fee compression as competition intensifies. The report notes that crypto fees remain high relative to traditional markets, citing academic research that puts average U.S. equity exchange fees at roughly 0.0001%, or one-hundredth of a basis point. DEXs account for nearly $10bn in average daily volume across spot and perps, compared with roughly $150bn in ADV across the NYSE family of exchanges, and Hyperliquid accounts for about 80% of DEX perp ADV.
The report also outlines market structure. Automated market makers (AMMs) serve long-tail and stablecoin pairs efficiently, while central limit order books (CLOBs) typically deliver tighter spreads and higher capital efficiency, which suits high-volume assets and perpetual futures. DEXs also frequently list new tokens first; during the late-2024 "onchain season," several prominent narratives originated on decentralized liquidity pools on Solana and Base. Grayscale estimates DEX perp volume was about 5.4% of CEX perp volume over the 30 days ending May 31, 2025. The report further observes that DEX token economics vary widely, from cash-flow capture to governance rights, and that investors should evaluate project economics, governance proposals such as Uniswap's proposed fee switch, token supply, and value accrual.
DEXs settle trades on-chain without a centralized operator, either as smart-contract applications on blockchains such as Ethereum or Solana, or as exchange logic embedded in a layer-one protocol such as Hyperliquid. Grayscale notes that DEXs now compete on price: based on data from the first five months of 2025, volume-weighted average spot fees were about 15 bps for CEXs and 12 bps for DEXs, while perp fees averaged about 4 bps for CEXs and 6 bps for DEXs. The report cautions that these averages mask wide variation across venues and tokens.
Grayscale expects exchanges broadly to benefit from rising volumes while facing fee compression as competition intensifies. The report notes that crypto fees remain high relative to traditional markets, citing academic research that puts average U.S. equity exchange fees at roughly 0.0001%, or one-hundredth of a basis point. DEXs account for nearly $10bn in average daily volume across spot and perps, compared with roughly $150bn in ADV across the NYSE family of exchanges, and Hyperliquid accounts for about 80% of DEX perp ADV.
The report also outlines market structure. Automated market makers (AMMs) serve long-tail and stablecoin pairs efficiently, while central limit order books (CLOBs) typically deliver tighter spreads and higher capital efficiency, which suits high-volume assets and perpetual futures. DEXs also frequently list new tokens first; during the late-2024 "onchain season," several prominent narratives originated on decentralized liquidity pools on Solana and Base. Grayscale estimates DEX perp volume was about 5.4% of CEX perp volume over the 30 days ending May 31, 2025. The report further observes that DEX token economics vary widely, from cash-flow capture to governance rights, and that investors should evaluate project economics, governance proposals such as Uniswap's proposed fee switch, token supply, and value accrual.
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