Quarterly BTC volume hit second highest ever mark in Q1, 2023: Report

Crypto news have in recent weeks concentrated on the market action that saw bitcoin and Ether prices hit new year-to-date highs.

And as the cryptocurrencies have swung lower (Bitcoin is currently below $28,700 and Ethereum under $2,000) amid this week’s other headlines, it is likely some of the biggest trends have silently slipped beneath the surface.

According to insights by market data platform Kaiko, one of the big trends of the past few months likely not to generate as much hype has been the global patterns in crypto trade volume. Bitcoin volume, the impact of Binance as the largest crypto exchange and the silent rise of TUSD stablecoin are among key takeaways from a report the platform published today.

Bitcoin’s quarterly trade volume second-highest ever in Q1

As noted, Kaiko Research’s look at crypto’s aggregated quarterly volumes shows Bitcoin recorded its second highest ever volume count in Q1, 2023. Chart data the platform shared shows BTC quarterly trading volume has crossed the $1 trillion mark only in three quarters – Q1 and Q2 in 2021 and Q1, 2023.

Per the report, one of the catalysts for the increase in trade volume in Q1, 2023 was the safe haven narrative that permeated the market as investors looked to Bitcoin amid the recent banking crisis. BTC price rallying during the quarter was another key.

Notably, the jump in quarterly volume happened as crypto exchanges found themselves increasingly in the crosshairs of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The Binance effect and rise of TUSD

Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Therefore, the platform can and looks to have had an impact on the overall crypto volumes in the seven months up to March 2023.

That is because Binance offered zero fees trading on its platform for 7 months, a factor that helped push its market share up by 20% within that period. With trading fees reintroduced on the exchange, data shows a dump in volumes – with the BTC/USDT and BTC/USD pairs among those to see significant declines as the True USD stablecoin gained.

Indeed, BTC/TUSD currently accounts for 50% of the total bitcoin volume on Binance, up from practically 0% a few weeks ago. Meanwhile , BTC/USD volume fell to its lowest quarterly level since 2020, with the effect of the banking crisis and regulatory actions on USD payment rails the main reason for the declines.

On Binance and its potential impact on TUSD market growth, Kaiko analyst Conor Ryder says it might be time to consider the coin as a “top stablecoin in crypto.” This already happened with BUSD, a stablecoin Binance helped elevate in terms of market volume before the turbulence that hit it earlier this year, the analyst added.