Binance Tops Rankings in CoinDesk's Latest Exchange Benchmark

NEW YORK, May 8, 2025 - CoinDesk, the most trusted media, events, indices, and data company for the global crypto economy, today announced the launch of its latest Exchange Benchmark. The report, which is the industry's leading assessment of crypto exchanges since 2017 (previously released by CCData), provides a robust framework for ranking and evaluating risk associated with digital asset exchanges and underpins CoinDesk Indices' suite of FCA-authorized crypto benchmarks.

The latest Exchange Benchmark shows Binance leading with the highest overall score (90.1), followed by Coinbase (89.8), Bitstamp (88.4), and Kraken (84.5), all achieving AA status. Binance leads the market by a wide margin, capturing 26.7% of spot volume; nearly four times that of the next largest exchange, Crypto.com. Overall, Top-Tier exchanges (rated BB or higher) account for over 60% of Q1 spot trading volumes despite comprising just 19% of rated venues.

Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, shared: "I'm incredibly proud that Binance has been recognized as the top spot exchange in CoinDesk Data's April 2025 Exchange Benchmark. Rankings like these, grounded in thorough research, bring much-needed transparency and clarity to the digital assets space. This latest achievement reflects the countless efforts and resources our team at Binance has poured into ensuring our platform remains the most trusted, secure, and comprehensive to meet all crypto needs. We deeply appreciate the trust and loyalty of our 270+ million users globally, and are dedicated to keep building with their best interests at the core."

“As the longest-running crypto exchange in the world, serving millions of users since 2011, we’re proud to be listed as one of the top three exchanges in CoinDesk Data’s latest rankings. Bitstamp has earned its ninth consecutive AA ranking - an unmatched track record by any other exchange. Bitstamp’s consistent performance, particularly regarding the “Legal and Regulation” category, recognises our steadfast commitment to security, compliance, and customer trust.” - Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux, CEO of Bitstamp

"The Exchange Benchmark represents one of the digital asset industry's longest-running and most respected risk assessment frameworks," said Sara Stratoberdha, CEO of CoinDesk. "In a market where exchange quality varies dramatically, our rigorous assessment methodology has become the definitive standard for risk evaluation. The findings in this report highlight both the encouraging progress the industry has made and the critical opportunities for exchanges to strengthen their operational practices.”

The Exchange Benchmark delivers critical insights that help institutional investors, regulators, and industry participants navigate the risks associated with digital asset exchanges. The benchmark is backed by thousands of hours of research and encompasses more than 100 qualitative and quantitative metrics to grade exchanges AA-F. Any exchange that achieves a BB grade or above (65+) is considered "Top-Tier."

The May 2025 assessment introduces key methodological enhancements, including scaled risk assessment metrics for finer differentiation between exchanges, broader regulatory coverage, and refined selection criteria that better reflects current market activity.

Key findings from the May 2025 benchmark include:

• Regulatory maturity advancing, with more than 50% of benchmarked exchanges now licensed under broader market or virtual asset regimes
• The United States maintains regulatory leadership with 60 exchange registrations through combined federal (FinCEN) and state-level licensing frameworks
• Institutional infrastructure adoption growing at top-tier exchanges, with 83% of A-rated and 67% of AA-rated exchanges supporting third-party custody solutions
• Security best practices stratified by quality tier: Proof of Reserves adoption universal among AA, A and BB exchanges but declining significantly at lower ratings
• Historical security vulnerabilities remain notable, with 30% of benchmarked exchanges experiencing at least one hack since 2015
• KYC standards increasingly robust, with 72% of benchmarked exchanges enforcing strict verification requirements for all deposits and withdrawals

The May 2025 Benchmark assessed 87 exchanges across eight risk categories using over 100 metrics, with these scores underpinning CoinDesk Data's regulated, aggregated index methodology (CCIX). The assessment period covered October 2024 through March 2025.

For information about CoinDesk's Exchange Benchmark, please contact research@coindesk.com or visit coindesk.com/research/.