Cryptocurrency Trading Volume to See 50% Growth in 2019

Despite cryptocurrencies having fallen off their record highs, the sector is expected to experience double-digit growth in trading volumes next year suggesting that trader enthusiasm in the nascent asset class has not waned.

According to research conducted by Satis Group, crypto trading volume will grow by over 50% in 2019. In the United States, the volume of cryptocurrencies traded will overtake the trading volume of corporate debt this year. And even more significantly, the trend shows that crypto trading volume is set to reach 10% of the equity trading volume in the world’s largest economy and home to the globe’s biggest stock market. Currently, the volume of U.S. equities is estimated to be over US$74 trillion while that of crypto trading is US$7.3 trillion.

The dominance of bitcoin as a base pair for trading cryptocurrencies is also set to continue, per the report. Currently, bitcoin is the base pair for 33% of all the crypto volume traded across the globe with Tether coming second at 22% while Ethereum is third at 12%. As for the fiat currencies, the United States dollar enjoys the biggest share of the market as a base pair at 48% while the Japanese yen is second at 27%. The Euro and the South Korean won enjoy single-digit market share at 9% and 7% respectively. With the expected growth in the crypto trading volume, exchange trading fees will also naturally increase. From a figure of US$2.1 billion estimated to have been generated in exchange trading fees last year, the amount is expected to rise to more than US$3 billion in 2018. This is despite the bearish conditions which have persisted this year.