Institutional crypto platform Bullish entered the top three centralized cryptocurrency exchanges by spot trading volume in February, surpassing Coinbase as overall trading activity across the sector slowed, according to CoinDesk Data’s February Exchange Review.

Spot trading on Bullish rose sharply during the month, increasing 62.6% from January to reach $76 billion. The figure marks the exchange’s highest monthly total since October 2025 and boosted its share of the global spot market to 5.06%, up by just over two percentage points.

The increase pushed Bullish — which went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year — ahead of Coinbase, which held a 4.59% share of global spot trading in February.

The milestone came during a broader slowdown in centralized exchange activity. Combined spot and derivatives trading volumes fell 2.41% in February to $5.61 trillion, the lowest level recorded since October 2024, according to the report.

Part of the decline reflected relatively subdued volatility in major cryptocurrencies. Although markets saw bursts of turbulence early and late in the month, Bitcoin spent much of February trading within a tight range between $60,000 and $70,000. The limited price swings reduced speculative trading that typically drives higher exchange volumes.

Spot trading accounted for about $1.50 trillion of the total activity, representing a 3.01% decline from January. Derivatives trading also edged lower, falling 2.41% to $4.11 trillion, though it continued to dominate the market, making up roughly 73% of trading on centralized exchanges.

Meanwhile, Binance maintained its lead by a wide margin. The exchange recorded approximately $331 billion in spot trading volume during February, equal to about 22% of global market share. However, its dominance slipped to the lowest monthly level since October 2020, suggesting trading activity is gradually becoming more spread across competing platforms.

Bullish’s rise highlights the evolving competitive landscape among centralized exchanges. As market activity slows, platforms are increasingly competing on liquidity, incentives and new product offerings to attract traders. Some have also begun partnering with major U.S. stock exchanges to launch tokenized securities or have expanded into prediction markets to diversify their trading products.