Bullish Volume Plunges 43% as Spread Surge Fails to Fully Offset Annual Decline

Woofun AI reports that CoinDesk affiliate Bullish experienced a 42.9% year-over-year drop in July trading volume, a contraction only partially mitigated by a 72.4% widening in its company-defined average trading spread.

Woofun AI data shows that structurally, the interaction between these variables yielded a volume-times-spread proxy that remained slightly below its level a year earlier, indicating the spread expansion did not fully counter the activity loss. Average trading spread rose to 2.62 basis points from 2.56 basis points in June and 1.52 basis points a year earlier. Multiplying each period's volume by its spread gives over $8 million for July, compared with $13 million in June and $8.2 million in July 2024. Consequently, the derived proxy fell 38.3% month over month and 1.6% year over year.

The deeper driver is the specific construction of these metrics, which diverges from industry standards. Bullish defines average trading spread from commissions relative to volume and says it also reflects changes in the fair value of perpetual futures and rebates. It is consequently broader than a conventional quoted bid-ask spread or a pure fee rate.

Furthermore, Bullish defines trading volume as the dollar-equivalent notional value of matched buyer-seller trades executed through its platform. The figure excludes customer assets, balances, and deposits, so the decline alone does not demonstrate customer flight or financial stress.

Notably, these dollar values result from multiplying two rounded inputs in the filing and cannot establish the company's profitability. Bullish said the monthly package is unaudited and that figures for months in the latest fiscal quarter are preliminary estimates subject to closing procedures. Final quarterly results may differ, so the July data should be viewed as an early indication of activity rather than of reported financial performance.