Ethereum’s decentralized exchange volume has slowed, dropping daily traders to a 12-month low of around 40,000 addresses, a sharp decline from the 95,000 peak observed in late 2024.
Ethereum’s Dex volume has been in halves since its peak in December
This sudden drop in DEX participation coincides with further cooling of the market in the crypto world and a decline in speculative capital flows.
Uniswap continues to be the dominant force of the Ethereum Dex ecosystem, which is currently preying on competitors like Sushiswap, which attracts around 2,000 active addresses every day.
Transaction volumes shrank with user participation, with Ethereum index volume falling to $57 billion in March 2025, dropping nearly half of the $112 billion recorded at its market peak in December 2024.
This decline in volume reflects both a decline in user activity and a potentially lower average trade size, as market participants gain more cautious positions.
Despite this shrinkage, distributed exchanges continue to account for approximately 13% of total spot trading volume compared to centralized exchanges, continuing the gradual upward trend observed in recent years.
The current landscape highlights the persistent advantages and disadvantages between centralized and decentralized trading platforms.
Intensive exchange continues to provide superior liquidity, lower transaction costs, and faster execution for most standard trading activities.
However, innovations from Dex aggregators such as Bebop and Cowswap are increasingly narrowing down these gaps by optimizing routing, reducing slippage and improving the overall user experience.
Layer 2 solutions like Base achieve critical transaction volumes, but Solana continues to establish itself as a critical alternative transaction venue.
This redistribution suggests that while Ethereum’s native DEX activity has declined, investors are still interested in exploring cost-effective venues rather than ending decentralized transactions entirely.
*This is not investment advice.
