Micron shares appear as the 3rd largest perpetual trading volume on Binance in the last 24 hours, behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant, believes that cryptocurrency exchanges are becoming exchanges for tokenized assets. In a chart published on his social media, the analyst points out that oil, metals, and stocks already have a significant volume on these platforms.
Also known by the English acronym RWA (Real World Assets), this asset class manages to combine the best of both worlds, as investors can trade them 24/7 through brokers already accustomed to these uninterrupted operations.
On the other hand, this also reduces the appetite for cryptocurrencies that are not as relevant, such as memecoins, or for those with good business models.
Metals and oil dominate trading volume on cryptocurrency exchanges, but there's a catch.
In the chart, Ki Young Ju reveals that oil and metal trading has already surpassed cryptocurrency volume on Binance's perpetual marketplace. However, the analyst does not include the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the market in his calculation.
“Average volume of USDT perpetuals by asset on Binance: Metals > Oil > Stocks > Altcoins. Cryptocurrency exchanges are evolving into RWA (Real World Asset) exchanges.”
Analyst highlights strong demand for trading in metals (in yellow), oil (in black), and stocks (in green) on Binance, leaving cryptocurrencies (in red) in second place. Source: Ki Young Ju/X.
When questioned about the exclusion of the 10 largest cryptocurrencies from the chart, which would represent the largest volume in this market, Young explains that the justification is precisely that.
“The term “altcoin” originally meant “alternative currency to Bitcoin.” For a long time, it primarily referred to small- and mid-cap crypto assets outside of BTC. But today, assets like ETH, SOL, and BNB are no longer just “alternative currencies.” They are established, large-cap crypto assets with high liquidity, mature ecosystems, and institutional relevance. Structurally, they are very different from the long-tail altcoin market.”
According to CoinMarketCap, there are currently around 53 million cryptocurrencies in the market. However, major exchanges only list a few hundred that have demand and liquidity, further reducing the size of the industry.
Another way to look at this is the Bitcoin dominance chart. It shows that only 5 cryptocurrencies represent about 82% of the crypto market capitalization.
The cryptocurrency market is huge, but it's concentrated in a few assets. Source: CoinMarketCap.
Not all cryptocurrencies are created equal, analyst points out.
Returning to Ju, the analyst concludes that altcoins should not be treated as a single category, but rather divided into two or three: large, medium, and small capitalization.
"The point is not that the volume of perpetuals for the top 10 altcoins is low. It's that the demand for small and mid-cap altcoins is currently much weaker than for many new RWA categories on Binance."
At the time of writing, Micron shares, which are experiencing a strong rise this Thursday (25) due to the excellent results of the last quarter, appear as the 3rd largest volume of perpetuals on Binance, behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Furthermore, it's also possible to see a large trading volume of silver, a semiconductor ETF, SpaceX and SanDisk stocks, as well as gold, surpassing major names in the crypto market such as XRP and HYPE.
Tokenized assets are gaining ground in Binance's perpetual market, surpassing several cryptocurrencies in trading volume. Source: CoinMarketCap.
