The cryptocurrency market has entered a โsustained crypto winter,โ according to CoinGecko, as spot trading volumes on centralized crypto exchanges rapidly fell over the first quarter of 2026.
Crypto market capitalization fell by more than 20% during the first quarter as โbearish momentum from late 2025 collided with global geopolitical instability,โ CoinGecko said in a report on Thursday.
That caused the top 10 centralized exchanges by spot volume to record a 39% decrease in trading volume over the quarter ended in March, dropping to $2.7 trillion from $4.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The drop comes as the crypto market has struggled to maintain positive momentum after Bitcoin (BTC) hit a record high of more than $126,000 six months ago, as the wider market reacted to fears of an economic slowdown and uncertainty over the fallout from US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
March was the โweakest month,โ according to CoinGecko, with $800 billion in trading volume, the lowest since November 2023.
CoinGecko said that the contraction in crypto markets was worsened by Kevin Warshโs nomination as US Federal Reserve chair, which signaled โa potential hawkish shift in US monetary policy.โ
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It added that daily trading activity across the crypto market saw โa significant declineโ over the first quarter, with average daily trading volumes at $117.8 billion, a drop of 27% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025.
All of the top 10 spot centralized exchanges recorded declining volumes in the first quarter, CoinGecko said, with HTX, formerly Huobi, seeing โthe biggest slumpโ quarter-on-quarter as volumes dipped 55% to $133.6 billion.
It said that Bitcoin fell 22% over the first quarter, โcontinuing to underperform all assets, despite US equity indexes such as NASDAQ and S&P 500 falling -7.1% and -4.8% respectively, their worst quarterly returns since 2022.โ
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