Bull run, fewer taps: Crypto market value rose 39.6% as top 10 spot volume fell 14.2%

Crypto’s total market value rose 39.6% in the third quarter of 2026, while spot trading volume across the top 10 centralised exchanges fell 14.2%, according to CoinGecko, with spot volume declining after February 2026 even as prices recovered. Exchanges are responding with retention incentives aimed at stopping traders from closing their apps after losses. Zoomex has offered some customers credit towards more trading, one of the loss-compensation methods Fernando Aranda, Marketing Director at Zoomex, described to BeInCrypto at TOKEN2049. “In this market, most of the big platforms started offering it because they saw users weren’t being retained. They were moving to brokers or platforms outside Web3,” Aranda said.

Experienced traders will look elsewhere when crypto fails to provide the opportunities they want, Aranda said. “When we go through a bear market, traders look for something with more volatility, something that moves faster, and they typically shift to traditional markets.” Zoomex’s response includes contracts tied to traditional assets and access outside conventional market hours, giving exchanges a reason to introduce new products before customers take their money elsewhere.

Prediction markets offer another route onto the platform. Aranda said Zoomex’s World Cup launch attracted people with little previous interest in crypto. “What I believe is that this kind of product launch brings in new users who aren’t primarily focused on Web3 — they come from Web2.” Keeping those newcomers requires a product they can understand, he said: “If you make it too complex, the user gets lost.”

Zoomex’s team competitions give traders another reason to return while helping them learn from experienced captains. “The captains we have usually come with organic communities, because they want to teach,” Aranda said. Captains explain how to open positions and set orders intended to limit losses, making complicated products easier to understand. Zoomex’s 2026 championship advertises a conditional prize pool of up to 5 million USDT. Some rankings depend on trading volume, and eligible captains may receive 20% of their team’s rewards, giving them a financial incentive alongside their teaching role.

The competition’s emphasis on trading activity raises the question of what happens when a trader’s sensible choice is to sit out. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority explored related incentives in a 2024 experiment involving more than 9,000 consumers and found that push notifications and prize draws could increase trading frequency and risk-taking. The study did not assess Zoomex.