Crypto.com is back to No.2

Crypto.com is back to No.2 in the ranking of global CEXes after being temporarily overtaken by Upbit at the beginning of the month. Upbit took over the spot fueled by a brief alt pump and domestic political instability, which triggered a flash crash in SK stocks and crypto.

Binance market share remains steady. And Crypto.com has been in the second spot since September. Spots 3 through 10, however, change hands relatively often.

CEX monthly exchange market share -- source The Block

Crypto.com is knocking on the doors of the previous spot volume ATH of $283.85b from Nov 2024, with $208.9b traded in December. This represents a daily average of $10.99b. If we were to estimate the total expected volume for Dec, with a 10% variance to the downside to account for lower weekend volumes, Crypto.com should reach just about $300b traded on the platform for the month whole.

CEX monthly spot volume -- source The Block

In terms of significant growth drivers for Crypto.com, we expect the Hong Kong regulator ???????? to publish a finalised list of the platforms graduating from a provisional permit to fully licensed soon, and Crypto.com should also learn soon if its VASP review was successful in South Korea.

Binance has withdrawn from the HK race. HK regulators were supposed to greenlight the next batch of CEXes by the end of the year, but there seem to be delays in the process. Crypto.com is additionally expected to launch a full exchange in the US in Q1 based on their roadmap (American users did not until now have access to the exchange due to regulatory risks).

Another item to follow is the SEC lawsuit that was expected to drop against Crypto.com this year. The exchange has recently withdrawn its countersuit, which could indicate that the risk of an enforcement action by the SEC following the Wells Notice has diminished (due to the changing regulatory environment and change in govt). Crypto.com CEO has recently visited President-elect Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago.