PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aug. 5, 2026 -- As the digital asset industry enters a more mature and selective phase, the role of crypto exchanges is expanding beyond trade execution. Liquidity and product breadth remain fundamental, but security, transparency, regulatory readiness, infrastructure resilience and real-world utility are becoming increasingly important measures of long-term competitiveness.
Against this backdrop, CoinGecko Research has released the KuCoin Exchange Report, providing an independent assessment of KuCoin's nine-year evolution and its performance during the first half of 2026. Released alongside KuCoin's ninth anniversary, the report examines how KuCoin has evolved from a crypto exchange focused on token access into a trusted digital asset infrastructure serving more than 45 million users worldwide, while reflecting the broader transformation taking place across the digital asset industry.
The report highlights KuCoin's continued expansion beyond transaction execution, particularly across payments and broader crypto utility. During H1 2026, KuCoin's off-chain payment volume increased by 300%, payment orders grew approximately 25-fold, and its network of service partners and merchants expanded by 60%. On-chain payment activity also recorded rapid growth, reflecting increasing demand for practical digital asset use cases beyond trading.
CoinGecko Research identifies three key trends shaping KuCoin's market activity during H1 2026: resilient derivatives participation, broader trading interest and continued expansion into tokenized markets.
First, derivatives activity remained comparatively resilient despite a more cautious market environment. KuCoin recorded average daily trading volumes of $1.99 billion in spot markets and $3.07 billion in perpetual futures. Weekday and weekend perpetual trading volumes differed by only 9.4%, indicating sustained participation in a continuously operating global market and reinforcing the importance of reliable, always-on trading infrastructure.
Second, trading activity became increasingly diversified. BTC and ETH's combined share among KuCoin's top 18 spot trading pairs declined from 74.3% to 45.2% by the end of June. CoinGecko Research links this shift to faster rotation across altcoins and emerging market narratives, highlighting the growing need for exchanges to combine deep liquidity in major assets with the agility to respond to rapidly evolving user demand.
The report also points to tokenized markets as an important area of product evolution. Between January 1 and July 29, approximately 61% of newly launched perpetual contracts on KuCoin were tokenized stocks or equity indices, reflecting growing demand for round-the-clock access to traditional market themes through crypto-native infrastructure.
Taken together, the report suggests that exchange competitiveness is increasingly defined by more than trading volume alone. As the industry matures, market depth, resilient infrastructure, regulatory readiness, transparency, product relevance and real-world utility are becoming the defining characteristics of long-term leadership.
CoinGecko Research concludes that KuCoin's nine-year evolution reflects a broader industry transition—from facilitating access to digital assets toward building trusted infrastructure that supports long-term participation in the digital asset economy.
Read the full KuCoin Exchange Report.
About KuCoin
Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 45 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform combines advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,500+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building transparent, compliant, and user-centric digital asset infrastructure for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Certifications. In recent years, we have built a strong global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets.
Learn more at www.kucoin.com.
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