The first quarter of 2025 the crypto on CEX: the complete analysis

The year 2025 started with a remarkable swing on the cryptoma markets, driven by the positive thrust at the end of 2024. But the enthusiasm quickly met with a changing reality and a reversal of the sentiment, which left significant traces in the performance of the new cryptocurrencies that are noted on the centralized stock exchanges (CEX).

The report “Listing Performance Q1 2025“Animoca Brands analyzes 770 listing events that took place on ten leading stock exchanges in the first three months of the year, and pursues trends, volume and strategies that define a transition moment for the sector.

The context of the CEX in 2025: an explosive start, followed by a brake

January was the highlight of the activity, with 364 listing eventsthanks to the extension of the bullish momentum in December. Nevertheless, interest dropped strongly from February, favored by the reversal of the market and the return of a Bearic narrative, which halved the monthly listings on almost all platforms. Still have Binance, Coinbase and Upbit Keep stable rates and consolidate their strategies regardless of the general climate.

The market has given mixed signals: On the one hand, the commercial volumes rose considerably in the first 24 hours after the list compared to the average of 2024, especially for tokens with a market evaluation (FDV) of over $ 500 million; On the other hand, the price developments were weaker in the first 7 days, which reflects the more careful mood of the investors.

The leading stock exchanges: who led and who lost to the ground

The ranking has mixed up in the CEX universe. Okx has conquered the top position for the average value of the token listed on day 1, with an FDV of over 4.1 billion dollarsand with it outdated binance and rose from the third to first place. A growth that is the result of a strategy that aims at the selection of projects with high capitalization.

Entry into the report of Coinbase has brought new perspectives: the American platform has Secondary listings from token with large FDV set and second for the average size of the introduced Cryptocurrencies positioned (3.3 billion). Nevertheless, the initially traded volumes remained modest, a sign of a still careful approach of retail on this platform.

Mexcalthough it maintains the top position in relation to the total number of listings (289), a decline in comparison to the monthly average from 2024, from 112 to less than 96 events. Binance On the other hand, his quarterly average of the previous year, also thanks to the introduction of the novelty “Vote to List”, a joint governance initiative that included users in the selection of the tokens to be listed.

The Trump case: The listing that has shifted the equilibria

Under the surprises of the quarter, the listing of the Tokens TRUMP for a stir. With a initial FDV of $ 50 billion Generated it over $ 11 billion volume on Binance4.5 billion on OKX and 2 billion on bybit in just one day. Numbers outside the standard that influenced the entire statistics for January and showed the media and speculative potential of projects with strong political or viral connotation.

Primary-Listings vs Secondary-Listings

Of the 770 monitored listing events were 378 as “primary” Identified – that is, they took place in the first two days after the tokens started – during 392 „Secondary” Are that refer to tokens that are already available on other stock exchanges. This balance reflects a maturation of the market, where diversification strategies and the search for new listings are combined on the part of the stock exchanges.

Distribution according to FDV: The weight of the large projects is growing

The analysis of the listings according to FDV areas shows an increasing concentration on projects with high capitalization. The area of ​​over 500 million dollars was populated by token, which are also listed on more than five stock exchanges, a sign of the institutional interest and the “network effect”, which leads to being listed on several platforms at the same time to maximize liquidity and visibility.

The areas of 30 to 500 million also won in weight compared to 2024. Binance and OKX were particularly active in the range of 30-100 million, while Bithumb, Upbit and Coinbase dominated in the range of 100 to 500 million.

Volume in the first 24 hours: Boom in January, correction in March

The average trading volume in the first 24 hours after the listing has doubled compared to December 2024 And reached its peak in January 2025. This growth was not just from TRUMP Supported, but also from a number of tokens with a high market capitalization and a stronger participation of users thanks to the advertising strategies of the stock exchanges.

February recorded a partial decline in volumes, but the real decline came in March, when the tokens with high FDV saw the immediate interest after the listing dropped drastically.

7-day performance: a more sober market

The price of the token 7 days after the listing showed a behavior that matches the market trend: Very positive in Januarythen Flat or slightly declining between February and March. The performance remained positive on average, but far from the exploits from 2021-2022.

The best performance was on Okx (under the “Large Exchanges”) and on Mexc (among the “mid-sized”), which emphasizes the ability of these platforms to attract projects with Bull potential for an increase in value in the Bear period.

New trends: The transition from CEX to on-chain

One of the strategic innovations of the Q1 2025 was the introduction or expansion of on-chain trading functions by various centralized stock exchanges. Binance introduced Alpha 2.0, Mexc has introduced Dex+while Bitget hat Bitget Onchain Inaugurated. Everyone has developed autonomous methods to select on-chain tokens, offer alternative liquidity channels and to include the community in more decentralized processes.

This trend is also related to developments in the decentralized liquidity pools, where the Jelly incident Hyperliquid caused to revise its lever and liquidation mechanisms while Pump.Fun continued to produce community-controlled token, What has caused historical Amms like Raydium to introduce similar initiatives.

A sector in balance between hype and maturation

The first quarter of 2025 has confirmed that the market for listings on CEX is a reliable barometer for the global crypto substance. The increase in January, followed by the cooling in February and March, reflects the cyclicality of the sector, but also its increasing complexity. The stock exchanges are increasingly differing in the strategy, target group and type of supported projects, while the border between centralized and decentralized finances is becoming increasingly thinner.

With the introduction of instruments such as community votes, on-chain trading and the selection of mature tokens, the CEX try an evolution that can meet both the security requirements and innovation requirements. But the challenge remains: To be able to distinguish between current hype and solid projects is more important than ever today.