Kraken Dethroned Coinbase as Most Liquid US Exchange for Altcoins in July: Data

Cryptocurrency trading platform Kraken dethroned its rival Coinbase to become the most liquid United States exchange for altcoins in July.

According to a tweet by Dessislava Laneva, a research analyst at crypto data platform Kaiko, by the end of July, Kraken had claimed 47% of the market depth in the US for the top 10 altcoins.

Kraken Claims Largest U.S. Market Depth for Altcoins

As of January 2023, Kraken had only a 39% share of the market depth of altcoins, while Coinbase had 45%. At the same time, Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, had a market share of 7% while six other platforms collectively accounted for 9%.

However, data analyzed by Kaiko researchers found that Kraken’s market share has increased to 47%, leaving Coinbase with 41%, Binance.US with 1%, and the remaining exchanges with 10%. This means that Kraken now has a greater ability to absorb large market orders without significantly impacting the price of the altcoin in question.

Besides Kraken’s growing market depth, the exchange’s market share among platforms supporting USD deposits has also increased recently. Data from The Block’s USD Support Exchange Volume dashboard shows Kraken’s market share rose from 14.78% in January to 21.1% in July. The growth is significant, as the platform had a share of 8.3% last August.

Coinbase Faces challenges

A spokesperson for Kraken told The Block that the exchange’s recent performance is due to the launch of its advanced trading platform Kraken Pro and the enhancement of several offerings. The representative said the exchange’s share of total volumes had hit an 18-month high since unveiling the new platform.

Kraken’s share of the EUR spot market has soared to 53% from 35%, and the exchange’s AUD spot market has also multiplied by six times in the past months, per the spokesperson.

While Kraken records significant growth in its digital asset market share, Coinbase has faced regulatory challenges in recent months, possibly due to the decline in its volumes. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase in early June over several allegations, including operations as an unregistered broker, securities exchange, and clearing agency.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently revealed that the Commission instructed the exchange to halt the trading of all altcoins as they were securities and violated federal laws.