Bullish recorded $76 billion in spot trading volume in February, making us the third largest crypto exchange globally by spot volume.

February in numbers.

Internal Bullish data shows February volume came from a mix of established crypto trading firms and traditional financial market participants–the exact convergence that defines genuine institutional adoption. World's leading crypto market makers, quantitative trading firms with decades of traditional finance pedigree, and algorithmic funds that operate at the highest levels of the industry are among the most active, accounting for 98% of February activity.

February was a month of volatility for crypto–the exact environment professional trading desks on Bullish look for. Wider spreads, price dislocations across pairs, arbitrage windows opening and closing in milliseconds. When the market moves this way, institutional trading volume doesn't slow down. It accelerates. 

The chart below shows Bullish's volume per volatility point against BTC's 7-day moving average volatility from December 2025 through March 2026. February is highlighted.

The pattern is unambiguous. As volatility spiked in early February–peaking around February 10-12–Bullish's volume moved in lockstep. As volatility declined in the second half of the month, volume per volatility point declined proportionally. This is how institutional infrastructure responds to market conditions. Systematic traders generate volume when the market gives them opportunity–and Bullish institutional infrastructure was built to capture it.

The market quality data tells the same story of heightened institutional activity. At $100,000 trade sizes, Bullish ranked first in BTC-USDC order book depth among all major exchanges at 1% price impact–nearly twice as deep as Binance, which ranked second. Average execution spread across all BTC trades in February was 2.5 bps amidst volatility.

The regulatory standards we adhere to.

We hold a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), are licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), are authorized under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) via the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Germany—one of the most rigorous regulatory environments in the European Union—and are regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC).

Each of these regulators has issued our license and actively maintains it. Each imposes ongoing legal obligations to detect, prevent, and report market manipulation–including wash trading. To ensure market integrity on our exchange, we use Solidus Labs, an institutional-grade trade surveillance system trusted by regulated financial institutions globally.

What comes next?

February was a milestone. It was also a signal that institutional crypto is here, scaling on exchanges that can meet the standards serious market participants actually require.

Bullish was built for the institutional adoption of crypto. In February, we saw it in numbers.