The cryptocurrency market's trading volume has dropped back to the levels of the 2022 bear market, with ETH's trading volume decreasing more than BTC's, and Gas fees hitting an all-time low.

The crypto market’s weekly average trading volume fell to $90 billion, down 7% from the average, and has returned to the bear-market level of 2022. Ethereum is underperforming Bitcoin, with Gas fees sliding to a historical low percentile of 0.12 Gwei.
(Background recap: MicroStrategy has crashed down 44% from its peak! 10x Research: The leveraged Bitcoin narrative fades, three key factors determine BTC’s move this year)
(Additional context: Ethereum Gas fees hit a 5-year low; analysts: a strong rebound is likely for ETH)

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• Weekly trading volume is falling across the board, with both BTC and ETH below their averages
• Ethereum is more worth watching: Gas fees have fallen to a historical low percentile
• Funding rates are rising, but the base is too low, and the percentile remains low

The market’s liquidity and momentum are shrinking at a pace clearly visible to the naked eye. In a post on the X platform, 10x Research noted that the current trading volume in the cryptocurrency market has reached a new low since 2022. Total market cap is staying at $2.3 trillion, down 1.7% from last week. That figure by itself isn’t particularly shocking, but paired with the broad contraction in trading volume, the signal is much clearer—market activity is playing out with the tempo of the 2022 bear market.

Weekly trading volume declines across the board, with both BTC and ETH below average

This week, the weekly average trading volume across the entire market is $90 billion, down 7% from the historical average. Looking closely at the two major mainstream assets: Bitcoin’s weekly trading volume is $38.2 billion, 5% below the average; Ethereum’s weekly trading volume is $18.3 billion, 18% below the average, with a noticeably deeper decline.

From a longer time frame, as of March 22, major crypto exchanges had processed $652 billion in trades this month, down 58% from the same period last year. March’s full-month spot trading volume is expected to be about $920 billion. In Q1 2026, total volume is expected to be around $3.2 trillion, which is 45% lower than Q1 2025. Compared with the approximately $4 trillion in volume in Q1 2022, current volume is still about 20% lower—meaning that even relative to that period widely regarded as a bear market, today’s market activity still isn’t as strong.

Ethereum is more worth watching: Gas fees fall to a historical low percentile

If the decline in trading volume only reflects cooled trading appetite, then the direction of Ethereum network fees directly shows the state of on-chain usage. This week, Ethereum Gas fees are 0.12 Gwei, placing them at the 17th percentile of their historical distribution—meaning that for most of the time, network fees have been higher than they are now. This indicates not just that ETH trading is quiet, but that on-chain activity across the entire Ethereum ecosystem is shrinking in sync: interactions with DApps, DeFi operations, and NFT flipping all trend toward a standstill.

Compared with Bitcoin, Ethereum’s situation is even more pronounced: BTC’s trading volume is 5% below average, while ETH is 18% below—an over threefold gap. Structurally, this means the altcoin market’s lack of activity is far more severe than the mainstream narrative suggests. When even Ethereum, the second-largest asset by market cap, shows such clear contraction in liquidity, it’s hard to talk about momentum behind sector rotation.

Funding rates are rising, but the base is too low and the percentile remains low

Indicators in the derivatives market appear somewhat contradictory. Bitcoin funding rates increased 4.1% this week to 1.5%, but this is still at the 13th percentile over the past 12 months. Open interest rose by $100 million to $21.5 billion, a modest expansion. For Ethereum, funding rates increased 3.7% this week to 2.8%, also at a low 12% percentile over the past 12 months; open interest increased by $100 million to $11.8 billion.

Funding rates rising together with a small increase in open interest, in principle, could indicate that long sentiment is warming slightly. But percentile figures are the key reference point—13% and 12% mean that over the past year, there have been close to nine-tenths of the time when the market’s longs were more aggressive than they are now. A slight rebound from extremely low levels in funding rates doesn’t mean the market has turned bullish; it only means the market is a bit less bearish than before.

10x Research’s observations point to a consistent conclusion: liquidity is hitting multi-year lows, on-chain usage is relatively low, and although funding rates have recovered, they are still hovering around historical low percentiles. The market’s current state is closer to waiting than positioning. Until a clear catalyst appears, this kind of silence is likely to continue.