# Crypto Derivatives Volume Fell 15.7% in First Half of 2026 By Enna Lee Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/32420 Published: 2026-10-15T10:06:18.000Z Updated: 2026-10-15T10:06:18.000Z Section: Investing > Average daily open interest fell 10% year over year, while the tracked exchange sample recorded $73.35 billion in liquidations. Crypto derivatives markets recorded $35.08 trillion in trading during the first six months of 2026, as turnover fell faster than outstanding positions and liquidations reached their highest monthly level in June. Volume was down 15.7% from $41.60 trillion in the first half of 2025 and averaged $193.8 billion per day. Monthly trading volume fell from $6.73 trillion in January to $5.29 trillion in April, then rose to $5.66 trillion in June. June volume was up 6.5% from May but remained 15.9% below January. Second-quarter volume totaled $16.27 trillion, a 13.5% decline from $18.81 trillion in the first quarter. Average daily open interest, which measures contracts that remain open, was $112.7 billion in the first half, down 10% from a year earlier. Its June 30 level of $99.94 billion was 17.9% below the start of the year. Average daily open interest rose 2.1% in Q2 from Q1 even as trading volume fell. Volume counts trading during a period, while open interest measures contracts still outstanding. The two measures therefore show that turnover dropped while average open positions increased slightly quarter over quarter. [TokenPost's explainer on open interest]() covers the distinction. Liquidations across the tracked exchange sample totaled $73.35 billion in the first half. Long positions accounted for $45.63 billion, or 62.2%, and shorts made up $27.72 billion. June had the period's highest monthly total, $16.14 billion, with longs representing 69.5%. The largest listed daily total was $2.588 billion on Jan. 31, including $2.433 billion in long liquidations. Trading was concentrated among the top 10 exchanges, which accounted for 81.2% of first-half volume. Binance represented 26.6%. CME had 12% of average daily open interest and 4.1% of volume. CME Group's crypto products averaged 280,000 contracts per day through Q2, up 44% from the first half of 2025. The Q2 average was 250,000 contracts. These contract counts cover CME products and differ from the broader market totals, which are measured in dollars. ## Links in this article - [TokenPost's explainer on open interest](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/29821)