Trading volume on decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (DEX) has peaked compared to their centralized counterparts, fueled by “memecoin speculation mania,” says CoinGecko.

The ratio of cryptocurrency spot trading on DEXs compared to centralized exchanges (CEXs) has more than tripled over the past five years to reach up-to-date highs in 2025, CoinGecko research analyst Yuqian Lim he said in Thursday’s report.

The spot DEX to CEX ratio reached an all-time high of 37.4% in June amid a surge in memecoin interest and a “jump in PancakeSwap volumes due to orders directed from the Binance Alpha platform, which launched in May,” according to Lim.

For years, centralized exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase have dominated most of the cryptocurrency spot trading volume due to their features and ease of apply, but decentralized platforms have beefed up their offerings in an attempt to attract investors.

DEX trading shows signs of stickiness

Since hitting a up-to-date high in June, the spot DEX to CEX ratio has fallen to around 21% in November, marking the fifth straight month in which the ratio has remained near the 20% level, Lim said.

“This is well above the stagnant spot DEX to CEX ratios seen in previous years and potentially indicates volatility in DEX’s growing market share of spot trading volume.”

Lim said spot DEX trading volumes from May to October also remained above previous years and reached an all-time high of $419 billion in October, despite a broad market correction.

“This seems to further highlight the gradual but steady shift in preference towards onchain trading,” she said.

DEX futures prices hit a up-to-date high in November

Meanwhile, the DEX to CEX futures trading ratio, which compares the percentage of all perpetual futures trades on both types of exchanges, is also rising, reaching an all-time high of 11.7% in November 2025.

Lim said perpetrator DEX indexes saw a recovery in 2025 after recording a tenfold year-on-year volume raise to an all-time high of $903 billion in October.

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“Similar to spot trading, DEX perpetual volumes have only begun to close the gap to CEX this year. In fact, November marks the 14th consecutive month that the ratio of DEX volume to CEX perps volume has seen a month-over-month increase,” she said.

Lim pointed to the emergence of up-to-date DEX players such as Hyperliquid, Lighter and EdgeX as key drivers of the situation, with some of them offering incentives to attract investors.

“Hyperliquid alone has seen a criminal volume of $2.74 trillion this year, putting it on par with Coinbase and higher than the other DEXs with the most criminals combined,” Lim said.

“However, it remains to be seen whether DEX employee volume will remain at current levels after the end of extensive incentive programs,” she added.

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