DEXs defy market downturn to new record in January

DEX activity in January is the highest it has been in the past five years. Despite the recent downturn, DEXs are still heavily used across market conditions. 

DEX activity remains elevated in January, boosted by some of the most widely used chains. Despite the weak start to 2026, decentralized exchanges on multiple chains continued to show significant demand. 

DEX volumes in January 2026 already passed the 2022 levels, as decentralized retail activity picked up on multiple chains. | Source: Dune Analytics

In early 2026, DEX activity for January has already broken above its level in 2022, with over $278B traded to date. In January, DEX trading started recovering from its local lows, breaking the slide that started in October. Volumes reached $15.74B in 24 hours, led by Uniswap and PancakeSwap.

DEX activity makes up around 18% of centralized volumes, preserving its usual ratio. For now, DEX activity is still below the peak in 2022. However, this time, transactions and trades are more rarely tied to point farming or yields, and instead track real attempts at trading. 

DEX landscape becomes more competitive

DEX activity is not only rising in general, but it also reflects several trends in the crypto space. The low Ethereum gas fees brought a period of renewed activity. 

Decentralized markets are also focused on specific meta-narratives and show spikes of activity on other networks. 

BNB Chain is one of the venues, with PancakeSwap remaining the market share leader among all DEXs. 

Solana activity also has peak periods, usually linked to one or several trending meme tokens. Meme activity, new launches and secondary market trading are the main drivers of Solana DEX reawakening. Solana also benefits from the increased activity of HumidiFi, adding over $22B to overall volumes in the past 30 days. 

Base chain DEX volume reaches a new peak

Base was one of the chains to show a recent spike in volumes. The L2 platform remains one of the most active in the Ethereum ecosystem. In the past few days, Base activity spiked to $3.39B per day, with a regular baseline of $2.5B. 

Uniswap and Aerodrome drive over 86% of the activity, as Base increased its DEX volumes up to 10X since the beginning of 2026. 

Base also saw $163M in net inflows in January, though the inflows did not match the increase in DEX activity. Some of the DEX volumes on Base may be an early signal of returning retail traders testing out new apps and trading routes. 

DEX activity on Base is currently cheap and accessible, attempting a revival of retail trading mostly through new token mints and early price discovery. A bigger DEX recovery may come only after the chains show an increase in value locked and more significant value inflows. 

For now, DEXs are reflecting the emergence of new meta-narratives and new token classes, but traders are more cautious about liquidity compared to previous trading cycles.

Base became an anomaly in early January, beating both Ethereum and BNB Chain in weekly volumes, possibly linked to new tokens. Despite this, Base fees remained relatively low, as traders were more cautious and tested the market with smaller orders. 

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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/dex-defy-market-downturn-january/