DEX market share grew to 27.4% vs CEXs in Q1 despite lower volume

In the first quarter of 2026, the market share of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) in spot trading relative to centralized exchanges (CEXs) rose to 27.4%, an increase of 270 basis points from the previous quarter, BeInCrypto reported, citing a report from ARK Invest. During the same period, overall DEX trading volume fell by 26% to $832 billion, ending a five-quarter streak of growth. The decline was driven by a general contraction in trading, including a 32% drop in memecoin volume and a 58% decrease in project token volume. However, stablecoin swap transactions edged up by 0.7% to $185 billion, while trading in tokenized assets surged by approximately 83% to $4.6 billion. ARK Invest noted that the growth in DEX market share, despite the fall in trading volume, suggests a structural shift toward decentralized trading. By protocol, Uniswap reclaimed the top position with $231 billion in volume, followed by PancakeSwap with $138 billion.