In a surprising turn of events, cryptocurrency exchange trading volume surged past the elusive $1 trillion mark in December, marking a historic achievement after over a year of stagnation.

According to The Block’s Data Dashboard, December witnessed an impressive $1.1 trillion in trading volume, a feat last seen in September 2022 when the volume reached $1.03 trillion. This remarkable surge can be attributed to the industry’s optimism surrounding the potential approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, defying the typical holiday season slowdown.

Leading the charge was Binance, accounting for 39.3% of the month’s volume at $432.7 billion, followed by Upbit with 8.3% ($91.8 billion) and OKX with 8% ($87.5 billion). Alongside this remarkable trading activity, Bitcoin experienced a weekend rally, surging by 5.8% to surpass $45,000, further fueling the excitement in the crypto world.

The Block