Despite the billions that flow through centralized exchanges days, no continuous ways to assess their underlying quality of operation. The metrics of the surface level are dominant, and transparency varies widely. CoinDesk’s Exchange benchmark The report addresses this space by offering a structured, freely proven framework to assess the risk of counterparts.
The April 2025 edition of the Exchange Benchmark report is our comprehensive assessment to the present. It covers 89 exchanges throughout the area of markets and derivatives and features refined marking in all eight categories, a more stable regulation method and increasing integration of proven licensing data through Vaspnet. It is filled with more interacting with the appropriate hard work (DDQs), which enables clearer and responsible marking.
The result is a clearer difference between the exchanges that operate on institutional standards and those who are still falling into the basics of major risks.
Why benchmarking remains important
As scale exchanges around the world and increasing regulatory investigation, significant appropriate diligence remains difficult. Reported self numbers, disclosure fragments and various licensing regimes can mask real weaknesses. Without a standard tool, exchanges may appear to be trustworthy, while lacking basic internal control or regulation clarity.
The Exchange Benchmark report is the industry’s standard for risk assessment associated with digital asset exchanges. Each exchange was evaluated in 100+ metrics and assigned a grade from AA to F based on performance throughout the eight categories: market quality, security, regulation, KYC, transparency, data allocation, exchange leadership and negative events. Grade BB and above are considered top-tier and eligible to be included in CCIX reference rate of CCIX.
This outline is not about fame or size; Instead it acts as a necessary filter that provides regulators, institutions and counterparts to separate stable areas from those who appear only.
Basic findings from April 2025
The six exchanges have gained an AA rating: Binance, Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken, Crypto.com and bullish. It has been more than the past two editions and reflects the continued strengthening of the top end of the market.
Nineteen exchanges were classified as top-tier in general, from 16 November 2024. The gate.io, Bitvavo and Whitebit are these new incoming cycles, supported by verified submission submissions of appropriate hard work questions. More than 60 percent of top-tier exchanges submitted by DDQs, allowing independent validation of major inputs and enhanced reliability of the mark.
The DDQ cooperation continues to be linked to higher benchmark scores and movements.
The support for off-exchange settlement has also expanded. Sixty-seven percent of AA-rated exchanges now offer the option for property to remain in third-party custody while still facilitating trading access. This structure reduces direct exposure to the exchange -hand -held wallets and improves alignment with institutional risk frameworks.
Volume and risk
Top-tier exchanges cost more than 60 percent of Q1 spots volume, despite making less than 20 percent of ranked areas. Only AA-rated exchanges have contributed more than 40 percent of global activity. See the full deterioration of the rank Here.
The above chart describes how the quality of operation continues to relate to the volume of concentration at the top of the market.
At the same time, many high -volume exchanges remain in the lower tiers due to licensing gaps, monitoring or internal transparency. The Benchmark Report highlights the connectivity and supports a more relevant risk of volume evaluation.
Look forward
The next edition of the exchange benchmark will be published in November 2025. The exchanges seeking to include should complete a suitable diligence questionnaire and provide adequate access for data integration.
As the investigation increases from regulators, counterparts and institutional allocators, the cost of poor infrastructure is only rising. The Benchmark report plays an important role in setting expectations and keeping the industry accountable – acting as an important tool for navigating risk to a more complex and consequence of the Crypto ecosystem part.
Explore full results and rankings on April 2025 Exchange Benchmark Report Here.
