Author: RootData

 I. Transparency-Driven Cryptocurrency Exchange Rankings

In RootData's February cryptocurrency exchange rankings, Binance, OKX, Coinbase, Kraken, Gate, Upbit, Kucoin, Crypto.com, HTX, and Bitget secured the top 10 positions.

This ranking is based on RootData's extensive dataset, incorporating multiple metrics such as trading volume, reserve size, token listing performance, compliance, and transparency from major exchanges. It also mitigates the impact of manipulative practices like wash trading to objectively reflect the competitiveness and standing of exchanges within the crypto market.

In this month's ranking, Binance retains the top spot with the highest trading volume and wealth effect. OKX, one of the few exchanges to see a trading volume increase this month, jumped to second place. Coinbase slipped one position to third, while Kraken, active with several initiatives, climbed two spots to fourth.

II. Overview of Cryptocurrency Exchange Developments in February

1) Multiple Factors Including Weak Market Sentiment and Lunar New Year Holiday Lead to Trading Volume Decline

In February 2026, the cumulative spot trading volume on cryptocurrency exchanges reached $895.2 billion, a slight decrease of 4.7% compared to January. This decline resulted from a confluence of factors including market conditions, the macroeconomic environment, and the Lunar New Year holiday in Chinese-speaking regions.

From a price perspective, BTC fluctuated within the $66,000-$71,000 range throughout February, facing repeated resistance at higher levels and failing to achieve a decisive breakout. ETH and other major altcoins also remained range-bound, with the market lacking clear directional momentum. This directly suppressed interest in trend trading and the entry of incremental capital.

In the absence of strong one-sided market moves, spot market activity naturally subsided. While the derivatives market saw localized spikes in volume during periods of heightened short-term volatility, it was insufficient to offset the overall decline stemming from spot market weakness.

Simultaneously, the Lunar New Year holiday's impact on global trading patterns remained significant. A large number of retail traders and some institutional accounts paused or scaled back operations, leading to a temporary reduction in liquidity during Asian trading hours and a noticeable contraction in volume for that session. Given Asia's substantial weight in the global crypto market, the holiday effect was amplified in the aggregate volume figures.

Macro-wise, global risk assets entered a rebalancing phase in February, with a marginal rise in risk-off sentiment. Some capital flowed into safe-haven assets like precious metals and bonds. The pullback in risk appetite led to a more conservative stance towards marginal allocations into crypto assets. Even though some Bitcoin spot ETFs continued to see net inflows, the incremental scale was not enough to generate a trend-level surge in volume. Ultimately, this contributed to the slight overall decline in crypto market trading volume.

In summary, the dip in spot trading volume in February 2026 was the result of multiple converging factors, not a signal of market deterioration. Looking ahead to March, as the Lunar New Year effect dissipates, potential regulatory tailwinds (such as the deepening implementation of the EU's MiCA framework) emerge, and macroeconomic data becomes clearer (e.g., rising expectations for Fed rate cuts), trading activity is expected to rebound.

2) Contraction in Exchange Token Listing Frequency, High-Transparency Projects Favored

Due to the ongoing downturn in the crypto market and the reduced activity of many project teams and investors in Chinese-speaking regions during the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of new token launches hit a new low this month. According to RootData statistics, top-tier exchanges listed a cumulative total of 10-15 newly issued tokens this month, with a total of 28 new token listings across these exchanges (stablecoins and tokenized stocks excluded). The number of new listings per exchange ranged from 2 to 14.

Among them, both Binance and OKX listed only 2 newly issued tokens. Exchanges like Kraken, Gate, and Coinbase listed multiple existing tokens (e.g., CFG, TAO, HYPE, SKR), but the numbers were significantly lower than in previous months. Collectively, these factors provided very limited stimulation for user trading sentiment.

Analysis of these newly listed tokens reveals that 82% had a transparency score above 60%, and 43% scored above 80%. Only 2 tokens had a transparency score below 40%. This indicates that tokens with high transparency are more likely to gain the favor and trust of exchanges, as high transparency suggests a project prioritizes its users and community and is committed to long-term development.

3) Increased M&A Activity Among Asia-Pacific Exchanges, Entry of Traditional Finance Giants

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the cryptocurrency exchange space increased noticeably in February. Exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region, including Korbit, Coinhako, and Independent Reserve, were acquired by traditional finance giants. This reflects that, against a backdrop of gradually clarifying regulations and increasing market maturity, traditional financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region are accelerating their entry into the compliant crypto asset space. They are seeking to quickly access the digital asset market by acquiring established, licensed exchanges, bridging traditional finance with blockchain infrastructure, and capturing growth opportunities in tokenized securities, stablecoins, and institutional-grade digital asset services.

In 2025, cryptocurrency exchanges like Bullish, Gemini, Kraken, and Hashkey Group conducted IPOs, raising billions of dollars collectively and establishing viable exit paths within the exchange sector. This has also made exchanges an attractive target for financial investments by traditional finance giants.

On February 4th, global CFD trading giant IG Group announced the completion of its acquisition of the Australian crypto trading platform Independent Reserve, a transaction approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. On February 13th, South Korea's Mirae Asset Group announced a 133.5 billion won (approximately $93.82 million) investment, with its subsidiary Mirae Asset Consulting acquiring a 92.06% stake in the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit.

On February 17th, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced plans to acquire a majority stake in the Singapore-based crypto exchange Coinhako to further deepen its presence in the cryptocurrency sector.

III. Case Studies and Analysis of Major Exchanges

1) Binance

In February, Binance's spot trading volume was $319.8 billion, a month-on-month decrease of 19.7%, the largest decline among top-tier exchanges. This anomaly suggests that, beyond weak market conditions, Binance may have been significantly impacted by the reputational fallout from last month's events.

In January, Binance's perceived irresponsible handling during the "1011 event" drew widespread criticism from industry media and KOLs, with its risk management mechanisms during extreme market volatility coming under particular scrutiny. This may have prompted migration among some institutional and high-volume clients.

This month, Binance listed only two new spot assets, ESP and ZAMA, on its spot market. However, it listed five new token perpetual contracts (ROMO, OPN, AZTEC, ESP, TRIA) and eight tokenized stock perpetual contracts (including COIN, CRCL) on its futures market. This reflects Binance's strategy of attracting more users and volume through TradFi products.

On the compliance front, Binance's Co-CEO Richard Teng revealed this month that the exchange has applied to Greek regulators for an operating license under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

In terms of web traffic, Binance performed best in emerging markets like Russia and South Korea this month, with combined traffic from these two countries exceeding 5.27 million visits, significantly ahead of other cryptocurrency exchanges.

2) OKX

In February, OKX's spot trading volume was $60.5 billion, a month-on-month increase of 4.3%, making it one of the few cryptocurrency exchanges to see volume growth.

This month, OKX maintained its low-frequency token listing strategy, adding only two assets (CC, ZAMA) to its spot market. It also listed assets like AZTEC, ESP, ROBO, and OPN on its futures market.

On February 26th, OKX officially launched stock perpetual contracts in select supported countries/regions, entering the competition for tokenized stock products. With this move, all major cryptocurrency exchanges now support tokenized stock trading.

3) Coinbase

In February, Coinbase's spot trading volume was $70.2 billion, a month-on-month increase of 2.3%, also making it one of the exchanges to see volume growth.

Regarding listings, Coinbase added new tokens like ROBO, ZAMA, AZTEC, and ESP, as well as existing tokens like DEEP, UP, and HYPE. Its total of 12 new listings was second only to Kraken among top-tier exchanges, and all listed tokens had transparency scores above 60%. This indicates Coinbase is pursuing an aggressive listing strategy to attract more users.

In terms of web traffic, Coinbase performed relatively well in emerging markets like Turkey and Russia this month. However, its overall traffic remains significantly lower than exchanges like Binance and Gate, primarily because Coinbase focuses mainly on compliant markets like the US and Europe.

This month, Coinbase released its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial results, reporting a net loss of $667 million. Total revenue was $1.78 billion, down 5% quarter-over-quarter and approximately 22% year-over-year. Full-year 2025 trading volume grew 156% year-over-year, with its share of the crypto trading market doubling to around 6.4%.

4) Gate

In February, Gate's spot trading volume was $70.8 billion, a month-on-month decrease of 11.7%, a decline slightly larger than the overall crypto market's drop.

Regarding listings, Gate added eight tokens to its spot market this month: PACT, AZTEC, ESP, CRYPTOBURG, RNBW, ELON, BIRB, ZAMA, and ROBO, 14 fewer than the previous month. In terms of web traffic, Gate performed adequately in emerging crypto markets like South Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and Turkey, with total visits reaching 2.46 million. However, traffic from markets like Russia and Vietnam declined by over 20% month-on-month.

This month, Gate announced it had received a Payment Institution (PI) license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), laying the groundwork for offering compliant stablecoin and payment services within the EU. Gate also launched "Gate Booster," a promoter task and incentive platform targeting crypto industry KOLs, content creators, and community builders. It aims to connect quality promotional resources with projects in the Gate ecosystem through a standardized task mechanism and incentive system.

Other significant exchange developments this month:

Kraken announced the launch of regulated perpetual futures contracts based on tokenized stocks. These products, available to eligible non-US users in over 110 countries/regions, track digital versions of major US stocks, indices, and gold ETFs, built on xStocks' tokenized stock offerings.

Kraken announced the launch of "Flexline," a crypto-backed lending service that allows Kraken Pro traders to access liquidity using their existing digital assets as collateral without selling their holdings.

Gemini, after announcing a 25% workforce reduction (up to 200 employees) and its exit from the European market, saw the departure of its Chief Operating Officer Marshall Beard, Chief Financial Officer Dan Chen, and Chief Legal Officer Tyler Meade within half a month.

Crypto.com announced this month that it has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), allowing it to apply for a federal charter to operate as a national bank in the future. This approval would enable Crypto.com to offer digital asset custody and staking services under a federal regulatory framework.

KuCoin launched KuCoin Feed 2.0 and KuCoin Live, aiming to connect real-time market discussions with professional-grade trading execution features within the KuCoin App.