Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) trading volume on Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reached the lowest level over the weekend since July 4, 2022, just days after the Changpeng Zhao-led firm ended most zero-fee trading, according to digital asset data provider Kaiko. Binance decided to pause its no-fee trading promotion for 13 BTC spot trading pairs after just nine months, it said in a March 22 release , in a move that was likely a main driver in sending its global market share 10% lower since reinstating fees. The exchange also suffered a two-hour outage last week due to a software bug that forced it to pause spot trading and could have contributed to the drop in market share. Interestingly, Binance said it would eliminate trading fees just for BTC-TUSD pair, which was only recently re-listed. "It is unclear why Binance has chosen to promote its TUSD pair, although it appears the exchange has selected the stablecoin as a successor to BUSD, which is being phased out because of regulatory actions in the U.S.," Kaiko wrote in a research newsletter. Prior to launching zero fees in July, the firm's trading market share for the 13 BTC pairs, Kaiko noted , was only 25% before more than doubling. “It has now been just 5 days since fees were reinstated, and market share has halved and is currently below 30%.” The centralized exchange is also dealing with increased regulatory scrutiny, having been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly offering unregistered crypto derivatives offerings to customers in the U.S. The lawsuit roiled the broader crypto market in mid-afternoon trading .
