United States is Lagging in Terms of Crypto Exchange Trading Volume, Is Regulation the Hold Up?

The crypto exchange volume is one of the most-watched numbers in crypto because it gives an overall idea of just how large the Industry is and how much money is going in and out of it. It has also been the subject of some controversy as several exchanges have been accused of faking a large portion of their transaction volume, with some believing that up to 90 percent of all transactions volumes are false.

Regardless of whether these claims are accurate, it has become apparent that the United States isn’t as dominant in the crypto exchange space as it once was, with the new reigning champion Being Asia.

New King On The Block

It can’t be said that the US doesn’t have some notable exchanges under its belt, both in and out of the crypto space. After all, Poloniex, the NYSE and NASDAQ are all native to the US.

However, a new breed of crypto exchanges have snatched dominance and they all appear to be from Asia. Some of the most prominent Asian exchanges are Binance and Huobi which Huobi controlling over half of all crypto exchange volumes worldwide.

This shift in power calls into question whether it is as a result of a growing Asian market or simply the effect of too-strict regulations in the US.

What Is Responsible?

While the United States is a leader when it comes to business all over the world, there is a lot of policing going on when it comes to crypto from bodies like the IRS, CTFC and SEC. For example , there has been over a year-long battle to get a crypto exchange traded fund approved by the SEC, even as several have been opened outside the US already.

This has led many large exchanges to take their operations elsewhere. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao even said last year that the company wasn’t focused on getting a lot of business from the US and would instead leave that to the US-based exchanges.

He is not the only one who has spoken about this as Blocktown Capital Managing Director, James Todaro has done so as well.

For those who disagree the US is falling behind in crypto bc of regulations, think about this:

Just 2 yrs ago, US exchanges accounted for ~65% trade volume. Today it’s <20%.

The US-based NYSE & NASDAQ are the world’s largest exchanges.

The US lost this dominance in crypto. pic.twitter.com/Hi7r2MOCmX

— James Todaro (@JamesTodaroMD) April 1, 2019

At the same time, there are those who feel that the US Exchange were simply noncompetitive compared to their Asian counterparts and that regulations should not be blamed.

One response to Todaro’s tweet said,

For those who disagree the US is falling behind in crypto bc of regulations, think about this:

Just 2 yrs ago, US exchanges accounted for ~65% trade volume. Today it’s <20%.

The US-based NYSE & NASDAQ are the world’s largest exchanges.

The US lost this dominance in crypto. pic.twitter.com/Hi7r2MOCmX

— James Todaro (@JamesTodaroMD) April 1, 2019