Attention crypto players will switch to cryptobirds. They show impressive growth. Investors expect projects to go public on the exchanges in order to take profits or increase them, and Forex traders adapt their experience for operations with cryptocurrencies. Today 227 exchanges are represented on the Coinmarketcap.
According to some information , their real number has long exceeded 500. The success of Binance proves that the market will develop. Recall that she is the most successful unicorn startup in history. In just six months, her estimate came close to $ 2 billion. Moreover, the project is profitable.
Analysts at BDCenter prepared an analysis of the cryptocurrency exchanges market, presenting the main findings from a 100-page study.
Jurisdictions
Despite the bans of regulators, the head offices of most cryptocurrency exchanges are still located in China:
Profitability for the month
Comparing the real turnover and positioned, we found that the turnover of 29 out of 43 exchanges do not correspond to the declared ones. CoinEx, LBank, ZB.COM, Huobi and OKEx have the largest differences. Of these, Huobi and OKEx have a difference of more than $ 1 million.
No exchange specifies the cost of listing publicly. Many people call it only after evaluating the project and filling out a questionnaire for listing, some are asked to sign the NDA before they announce the cost.
Despite the fact that many exchanges receive a higher income from listing new coins, in the aggregate, the highest income for exchanges comes from trading , not listing.
The most profitable cryptobirds trading:
- Binance ($ 148 million),
- EXX ($ 58 million),
- Bitfinex ($ 46 million),
- Coinbase ($ 38.7 million),
- Gemini ($ 28 million).
The most profitable cryptobirds by listing:
- Huobi ($ 17.5 million),
- Coinsuper ($ 9.5 million),
- Bit-Z ($ 5.3 million),
- Binance ($ 5 million),
- oinbene ($ 3.6 million).
Advertising promotion and unused communication channels
Practically none of the exchanges use paid promotion. The main volume of traffic is a direct visit to the site and referral links. For the most part it is organic.
During the study, we found a huge number of communication channels that do not use cryptocurrency exchanges. For example:
- the forums
Only one of the 30 exchanges has a link to a thread on the bitcointalk.org forum on its website.
- e-mail newsletter
Only 2 cryptocurrency exchanges are active with their users via e-mail distribution. And this is despite the fact that the percentage of openability of letters in blockchain spheres is about 7-15%. This means that mailings can potentially give a lot of traffic and return customers. A good example is that Forex brokers are very active in e-mail newsletters, constantly motivating users to make a deposit, send various promotions and give training materials.
- a more detailed comparative analysis of communication channels is presented in the study.
The target audience
The analysis showed that mainly users of exchanges are based in the USA and China. But some exchanges are only available in selected countries, and therefore their audience consists mainly of local users.
At least 50% of users have completed higher education – economics or mathematics, and some still study at undergraduate or graduate programs. The average user spends 10 minutes on the exchange.
The average retention rate is 7-12 visits per month and a view from 4 to 13 currency pairs. More than 61% of traders belong to beginners, 19% – the average level. All exchanges more than 70% of traders – men. The exception is exx.com, where the percentage of female audience is higher and amounts to 52.67%.
Forex brokers
In the course of the study, it became clear that Forex brokers are creating an increasing competition to cryptocurrency exchanges. Most of them joined the race for users at the end of 2017. Most are limited to currency pairs: BTC / ETH / LTC, but their number is constantly growing.
Others, like iqoption, present side projects to traders as new platforms – iqfinex.
A detailed analysis of cryptocurrency brokers is presented in the BDCenter marketing research.
The findings of the study
The study showed that cryptocurrency exchanges are still one of the most promising areas of high-yield cryptocurrency projects.
The largest number of users of the exchanges falls on the countries of the USA, China, Russia, which plays a role in the organization of the work of technical support and site usability. Compliance with the laws of the countries in which the activities of the exchanges are conducted is a prerequisite for successful activity in the territory of these states. This is due to the active actions of governments to regulate financial turnover and protect the population from fraud.
The study revealed 2 global trends of cryptocurrency exchanges:
- Create decentralized (DEX) or hybrid exchanges (HEX).
They provide greater security and anonymity for users. Such exchanges of the largest market players are already undergoing different stages of testing: Binance – Binance Chain, Bitfinex – Ethfinex. - There are more local exchanges focused on a specific region. Some large players create side projects focused on specific regions. The regions with high volatility of fiat currency and high penetration of bitcoin and technology of blockchain prevail in this.
Obviously, not all exchanges are 100% using the capabilities of social networks and additional traffic channels in their strategies to attract and retain users. This may be due to several points.
- First , pressure from large advertising sites, such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, which prohibit or are suspicious of cryptocurrency financial instruments.
- Secondly , the well-established view that the cryptocurrency = anonymity. Not everyone is ready to reveal themselves through social networks.
- Thirdly , the lack of focus on social networks in the development of the community. Social networking exchanges are considered as a tool for warning, and not interaction with their users.
BDCenter analysts conclude that this industry has already begun its journey up the hill and requires more careful study. The full version of the analysis can be found on the BDCenter website.
