BeInCrypto reported, citing ARK Invest's report, that in Q1 2026, DEX's spot trading market share against CEX rose to 27.4%, expanding by 270 basis points quarter-over-quarter. During the same period, the total DEX trading volume decreased by 26% to $832 billion, breaking a five-quarter streak of increases. A general contraction in trading was observed across meme coins (-32%) and project tokens (-58%). However, stablecoin swap transactions increased by 0.7% to $185 billion, and tokenized asset transactions surged by approximately 83% to $4.6 billion. ARK Invest analyzed, "Despite the decrease in trading volume, the rise in DEX market share indicates a structural shift towards decentralized exchanges." By protocol, Uniswap reclaimed the top spot with $231 billion, followed by PancakeSwap with $138 billion.
