Many crypto investors got burned in 2022 by the greed and mismanagement of major centralized crypto exchanges. Could 2023 see them flock to decentralized exchanges like Uniswap?
Crypto management platform Bitwise estimates that Uniswap could actually surpass the trading volume of Nasdaq-listed Coinbase by Q4 2023. It argues that investors have lost so much faith in centralized exchanges that decentralized alternatives will become the norm.
Uniswap May Benefit From FTX Collapse
According to CoinGecko, Coinbase is currently the largest listed centralized crypto exchange in the US, with a 24-hour trading volume of just over $2 billion at press time.
While the decentralized Uniswap exchange is slightly lower on the list, it tops the rank of decentralized trading platforms. Uniswap currently has the highest 24h trading volume of any decentralized crypto exchange, coming in at $2.3 billion.
Bitwise said the volume of Uniswap overtaking Coinbase would not be surprising, given that it had already been briefly acquired in November 2022 following the collapse of FTX.
“The ratio returned in December as the market moved lower,” Bitwise asserts. We think it will become more stable in Q4 2023 when Uniswap passes Coinbase and probably never looks back .
DEX-to-CEX Spot Volume Positive Indicator
Already this month, Uniswap handled $12 billion in trading volume, according to The Block’s analysis:
In its December release, CoinMarketCap also noted that DEXs are eroding CEX market share, citing the 2022 DEX-to-CEX spot volume ratio. However, the figures for January are relatively low for decentralized exchanges.
On the DeFi front, the DEX has a total value locked (TVL) of $3.64 billion, according to DeFiLlama. With a majority stake on Ethereum, Uniswap V3 (UNI) dominates $2.57 billion of TVL.
The exchange also recently revealed plans to introduce UniswapV3 on the StarkNet network. If the proposal is approved, the Ethereum-based ZK-rollup StarkNet could be enabled as early as Q2 2023:
Meanwhile, Uniswap’s governance token UNI is hovering near $6.40 on CoinGecko. It is up more than 22% so far in 2023, but is down 0.8% in the past.
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