Cryptocurrency trading volumes spike 17% in February – CryptoCompare

Cryptocurrency trading volumes soared by 17% last month in the wake of Tesla’s $1.5 billion bitcoin bet, with larger exchanges taking a growing share of the overall volumes, data showed on Friday.

Trading volumes jumped to $2.7 trillion in February, with volumes at major exchanges jumping over 35% to $2.4 trillion, researcher CryptoCompare said. Smaller exchanges saw volumes slump by 36% to $381 billion, suggesting growing consolidation of trading at larger venues.

Volumes hit an all-time high of $159.9 billion on Feb. 23, it said, when bitcoin sank 10%.

The embrace of cryptocurrencies by the likes of Tesla Inc and Mastercard Inc drove bitcoin to a record high of $58,354 and a $1 trillion market capitalisation last month. Growing interest from bigger investors has also added fuel to the cryptocurrency’s rally.