KuCoin’s Daily Equity-Perpetual Volume More Than Doubled in Q3

KuCoin’s daily trading in perpetual contracts tied to stocks, exchange-traded funds and indexes more than doubled between July 1 and Sept. 30, while total Q3 volume across tracked exchanges fell 27.5% from Q2 to $12 trillion.

The equity-perpetual figure compares daily readings on the quarter’s opening and closing dates, rather than all trading accumulated over three months. KuCoin’s daily spot volume also rose between those dates, ending Sept. 30 47.07% above its July 1 level.

KuCoin recorded $106 billion in spot volume and $167 billion in derivatives during Q3, with derivatives making up 61% of its trading. Across tracked exchanges, spot volume fell 55% to $2 trillion, and derivatives volume declined 17% to $10 trillion.

That quarterly pullback contrasted with gains within Q3. Daily spot volume across the tracked market increased 29.7%, from $24.2 billion on July 1 to $31.5 billion on Sept. 30; September’s total monthly volume was 38% higher than July’s.

Traditional-finance perpetuals totaled $2.1 trillion across nine exchanges in Q3. Contracts linked to equities, including single stocks, ETFs and indexes, accounted for $1.61 trillion, or 77%, of that activity. The number of listed traditional-finance contracts across the nine venues nearly doubled during the quarter.

Trading was concentrated among a few venues and contracts. Binance held 58.60% of equity-perpetual volume, followed by OKX at 15.79% and Bitget at 7.60%; the 20 largest contracts accounted for 88% of the category’s volume. KuCoin’s traditional-finance perpetuals equaled 3.58% of its derivatives volume, while the exchange held 0.37% of equity-perpetual trading.

Coverage of equity perpetuals widened in July, so comparisons with earlier quarters reflect changes in both market activity and data coverage. The Q3 tally may also omit some listed contracts, making the quarter-to-quarter comparison a mix of trading changes and a broader set of products counted. The new figures follow KuCoin’s expansion to more than 170 traditional-finance perpetual contracts.

A March 30, 2026, consent order permanently bars Peken Global, KuCoin’s operator, from allowing U.S. participants direct access to its trading system unless it registers with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a foreign board of trade.