2025 CEX Chinese User Research Report: Nearly 80% of respondents increased their investment, and 74% of respondents希望 the coin listing process to be transparent

Source: ChainCatcher, RootData.pdf)

Centralized exchanges (CEX) are facing unprecedented changes in the industry. On one hand, the industry is confronted with multiple challenges, such as the weakening of the listing effect, frequent security incidents, a growing trust crisis, and on-chain competition; on the other hand, DEXs like Hyperliquid are continuously eating into market share through technological innovation. At this critical turning point, Chinese-speaking users, as the core customer group of CEX, will directly influence the evolution of the industry landscape.

ChainCatcher, in collaboration with RootData, recently launched the "2025 Survey on Chinese-speaking Users of Centralized Exchanges," collecting 715 valid responses within just over ten days. This report will analyze the user demands behind these trends and provide decision-making references for industry participants. (You can click this link.pdf to download the PDF version.)

Key Data Points:

• Binance and OKX are the most frequently used CEX by respondents, holding the largest amount of managed funds, but they also have seen the highest decrease in user usage rates over the past year.
• "Actively listing quality assets" is the preferred listing style among respondents, but a minority have lost confidence in the listing mechanisms of exchanges.
• The CEX Web3 wallet market shows extremely high concentration, with nearly 90% of respondents locking Web3 wallet services to Binance and OKX. Binance leads with a usage rate of 56.5%, followed by OKX at 33.1%.
• The issues of deposit and withdrawal are most prominent for centralized exchanges, with doubts raised about the listing mechanisms. 59.3% of respondents have encountered deposit and withdrawal issues, and 63.9% have abandoned exchanges due to listing problems (such as price drops and insider trading); 74% of respondents demand transparency in the listing process.
• Most respondents have increased their frequency of using centralized exchanges and the amount of funds invested over the past year, with overall profitability significantly expanding. About 54.4% of respondents indicated they made profits in CEX investments this cycle, exceeding the previous cycle, while only 8.7% reported increased losses.
• 69.5% of respondents are considering switching to DEXs and other decentralized solutions, with 63.9% believing that DEXs will completely replace CEXs. However, 77.4% of users are still increasing their asset allocation in CEXs, reflecting a short-term dependency that is hard to change.

1. Overview of the Survey Population

Most respondents are professionals in the crypto field: Nearly 3/4 of respondents are professionals in the crypto industry, while 1/4 are non-crypto professionals.

Respondents are mainly crypto investment novices and investors with some experience: Novices with less than one year of investment experience account for 48.7%; those with 1-3 years and over 3 years of experience account for 25.6% and 25.7%, respectively.

Respondents maintain a relatively cautious attitude towards crypto investment. Nearly half of the respondents invest less than 10% of their income in crypto each month; 24.2% invest between 10%-30%; 14.7% invest between 30%-50%; and 13.3% are more aggressive, using half or more of their monthly income for crypto investments.

CEX Chinese-speaking User Preferences

1. High-frequency CEX Usage

In this survey, respondents were allowed to select up to three centralized exchanges they frequently used in the past year.

The results show that Binance, OKX, and Bitget are the top three most frequently used centralized exchanges by respondents.

Binance was chosen by 85.6% of respondents, far exceeding other platforms, and nearly double that of the second-ranked OKX (43.4%), reflecting a clear user preference for leading platforms, intensifying the Matthew effect.

Bitget (25.9%) and Bybit (20%) form the third tier, indicating a competitive landscape that is hard to define.

2. CEX for Storing the Largest Crypto Asset Holdings

In addition to usage frequency, the location where respondents store their largest crypto asset holdings also reflects user trust in centralized exchanges.

According to the survey results, Binance remains the most chosen centralized exchange for storing the largest crypto asset holdings, with over 60% of respondents choosing to store their largest crypto assets on Binance.

18.5% of respondents store their largest crypto asset holdings on OKX, significantly lower than the 43.4% usage frequency. This may indicate that users tend to view it as a "trading channel" rather than an "asset warehouse."

Apart from Binance and OKX, the market share of other exchanges is very fragmented and relatively low. Bitget and Bybit, ranked third and fourth, respectively, are chosen by only 4.8% of respondents for storing their largest crypto asset holdings.

This reflects that in the crypto asset storage market, Binance and OKX have already captured the vast majority of market share, and other exchanges face significant challenges in breaking through and attracting more users to store assets.

3. Listing Style Preferences

In this cycle, due to the weakening of the listing effect of centralized exchanges, the listing styles adopted by exchanges have become a common topic of discussion in the market.

From the survey results, 59.2% of respondents prefer an active listing style for quality new coins. This reflects that the cryptocurrency market is still in an innovation-driven stage, and users have high expectations for emerging assets.

15.2% of respondents prefer a more restrained listing style: they hope to list a few quality assets after careful selection. This reflects that some users focus on long-term value investment.

12.4% of respondents prefer an active listing style for popular community coins. The popularity of meme coins in this cycle again validates the power of community sentiment, indicating that community enthusiasm is a direction that users and exchanges must consider.

Additionally, 10.2% of respondents are indifferent to listing styles and care more about profit effects; 2.9% of respondents have lost confidence in the listing mechanisms of exchanges. This reflects that past issues such as high price drop rates and insider trading scandals have indeed troubled some users.

Centralized exchanges may need to find their positioning in a dynamic balance—satisfying the majority of users' thirst for "new assets," while establishing trust through a selection mechanism and flexibly responding to changes in community culture.

4. Satisfaction with CEX Listing Strategies and Processes

Binance still ranks first with a share of 36.4%, but its lead has narrowed. Binance has faced multiple controversies in this cycle due to listing issues (such as insider trading allegations and high price drop rates for some new coins), but its advantages in project selection capabilities, liquidity, and global resources make it the most satisfactory exchange for respondents.

However, compared to its dominant performance in high-frequency usage and asset custody, user satisfaction with its listing strategy shows a significant gap, indicating that aspects such as review transparency and project quality control urgently need optimization.

KuCoin follows closely behind Binance with a share of 26.2%, becoming the second-ranked platform in terms of satisfaction with listing strategies and processes. According to a report by Klein Labs, KuCoin listed 297 new coins in 2024, far exceeding Binance (60) and OKX (64), but significantly lower than the most aggressive Gate.io (629). This "moderately active" listing strategy and community voting mechanism have attracted some investors who value participation. OKX ranks third with a share of 14.4%.

Overall, centralized exchanges still face challenges in listing. Over 5% of users expressed dissatisfaction with the listing strategies and processes of all exchanges, with several users criticizing the phenomenon of dumping after listings.

5. Popularity of CEX Web3 Wallet Services

According to survey data, among the Web3 wallet services provided by centralized exchanges, Binance leads with a usage rate of 56.5%, and its leading advantage may primarily benefit from the continuous traffic driven by the Binance Alpha program.

OKX ranks second with a share of 33.1, and the early advantage of OKX in Web3 wallets may have been impacted by service suspensions and Binance Alpha.

Overall, Binance and OKX together are chosen by 90% of respondents, forming a clear duopoly, while the usage rates of Web3 wallets from other exchanges are below 3%. Additionally, 2% of respondents indicated that they do not use any Web3 wallets from centralized exchanges at all. (Note: After the survey ended, Bybit announced the closure of most Web3 wallet services.)

6. Core Factors for Choosing a CEX

What factors do respondents prioritize when selecting a centralized exchange? This survey also conducted a detailed investigation.

From the survey results, brand effect occupies an absolute dominance. 69.5% of respondents listed "brand awareness" as the primary consideration, reflecting the intensifying Matthew effect in the industry, where leading exchanges form cognitive barriers through first-mover advantages and scale effects.

48.8% of users emphasized "security," and 37.8% focused on "liquidity," these two essential indicators together constitute the survival baseline for exchanges.

26.3% of users pay attention to "richness of product features," reflecting the demand of mature investors for comprehensive services such as derivatives and wealth management.

19.3% prefer "speed of new coin listings," reflecting demand for participation in the primary market. 17.6% of users consider "integrated Web3 wallets," a relatively emerging option that has surpassed some traditional indicators, indicating that the integration of CEX and DeFi is reshaping industry standards.

Additionally, comments from respondents indicate that the availability of a large number of airdrops and other benefits, the empowerment of platform tokens, and the user experience of U cards are also reference options for choosing centralized exchanges.

7. Analysis of CEX User Pain Points

Deposit and withdrawal issues have become the biggest pain point. 59.3% of users have encountered deposit and withdrawal issues, far exceeding other types of problems, reflecting that there are still systemic barriers in the connection between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem.

Operational and service issues are also prominently displayed. Withdrawal delays/freezes (20.8%) and slow customer service responses (21.8%) affect over 40% of users, exposing some exchanges' shortcomings in fund processing efficiency and customer service systems.

22.8% of users are affected by policy restrictions (such as regional blocks, KYC upgrades, etc.), indicating that policy compliance challenges are becoming increasingly significant.

Additionally, 21.3% of respondents find the interface operation complex, which also reflects that current centralized trading platforms still have considerable room for improvement in user experience design.

3. Changes in CEX Chinese-speaking User Usage Trends Over the Past Year

1. Changes in Usage Frequency

The survey investigated changes in users' frequency of using CEX over the past year.

80.5% of users (62.7% significantly increased, 17.8% slightly increased) indicated that their frequency of using CEX has risen in the past year, suggesting that CEX still has strong stickiness among Chinese-speaking users. This may be related to market fluctuations, the investment boom in crypto assets, and leading CEXs continuously launching new features (such as Web3 wallets, wealth management products, etc.).

12.4% of users reported that their usage frequency remained basically unchanged, reflecting that some users have formed stable trading habits. Only 7.1% of users (4.6% slightly decreased, 2.5% significantly decreased) reduced their frequency of using CEX, which may be related to security incidents or the increasing appeal of DEXs.

2. Changes in Asset Investment

The results show that 77.4% of users (58.7% significantly increased, 18.7% slightly increased) have increased their crypto asset allocation in CEX, with more than half of respondents significantly increasing their asset allocation over the past year, while only 12% of respondents reduced their asset allocation (9.1% slightly decreased, 2.9% significantly decreased).

Overall, this reflects that as Bitcoin continues to reach new highs and the crypto market warms up, users' demand for investment in crypto assets is also increasing, and CEX remains the most important entry point for users' cryptocurrency investment trading.

3. Asset Appreciation Trends

We asked respondents, "Compared to the previous cycle (early 2022 to the end of 2023), in this cycle (from early 2024 to now), are you earning more or less in centralized exchanges?"

The results show that overall profitability has significantly expanded, with about 54.4% of users indicating that they made profits in CEX investments this cycle, exceeding the previous cycle, while only 8.7% of users reported increased losses.

4. CEXs with Significant Decrease in Usage and Analysis of Reasons

Binance, with a share of 51.9%, has become the exchange that respondents have reduced usage of the most, possibly influenced by the weakening of the listing effect and regulatory compliance issues, while OKX follows closely with a share of 26.6%.

As the exchanges with the highest frequency of use and the largest amount of managed assets, Binance and OKX may still face a significant user attrition rate.

5. Analysis of Reasons for Abandoning a CEX

The reasons for respondents abandoning a centralized exchange show that the negative impact of the listing mechanism is the greatest.

63.9% of users abandoned CEX due to listing issues, the highest proportion, reflecting that user dissatisfaction with the listing mechanism is particularly concentrated. High listing fees may increase project costs, indirectly raising token prices, while allegations of market manipulation further undermine users' trust in the platform's fairness. Additionally, 15.4% of users would abandon CEX due to "lack of listing effect," indicating that CEX urgently needs to optimize its listing mechanisms to rebuild user confidence.

38.7% of users abandoned CEX due to platform security incidents, showing that security issues remain one of the most concerning pain points for users. This year's $1.5 billion theft incident at Bybit has once again sounded the alarm for crypto CEX users and the industry.

25.6% of users abandoned CEX due to ethical controversies in marketing, indicating that such issues not only damage the platform's reputation but may also raise doubts about the overall operational integrity of the platform.

22.7% of users abandoned CEX due to liquidity crises caused by token price drops, reflecting that some platforms lack sufficient liquidity management capabilities under market fluctuations.

11% of users abandoned CEX due to compliance issues, indicating that some platforms have shortcomings in regulatory compliance. As global crypto regulation tightens, users are also concerned about the safety of their assets. CEX needs to actively adapt to regulatory requirements and improve compliance levels to reduce user concerns.

6. Analysis of Potential Factors for Reducing Overall Usage of CEX

The survey asked respondents what factors would lead them to reduce their usage of centralized exchanges, and the results show that 60% of users reduced their usage of CEX due to the bear market, the highest proportion, reflecting the direct impact of the macro market environment on user behavior.

35% of users reduced their usage of CEX due to security incidents, indicating that security remains a core pain point for CEX.

24.8% of users reduced usage due to allegations of market manipulation, reflecting users' doubts about the fairness of CEX trading.

22.7% of users reduced usage due to the weakening wealth effect of listings, indicating that if CEX cannot attract users through quality projects, it may lead to user attrition. Additionally, compliance issues and innovations in DEXs have posed challenges to CEX in attracting user usage.

4. Expectations of Chinese-speaking Users for the Future Development of CEX

1. Consideration of Replacing CEX with Decentralized Solutions

69.5% of respondents indicated that they would consider replacing CEX with DEXs and other more decentralized solutions, a significant proportion, reflecting the growing trust crisis in CEX and the competitive pressure brought by the rise of DEXs.

However, 10.1% of respondents still indicated that they are observing, suggesting that some users may still have a strong reliance on the brand of CEX and are skeptical about the maturity of decentralized solutions like DEXs.

2. Judgments on the Future Landscape of CEX and DEX

Regarding the question "Will CEX be completely replaced by DEX in the future?", 63.9% of respondents believe that DEX will completely replace CEX, reflecting the strong appeal of decentralized finance (DeFi) concepts in the cryptocurrency community and the gradual narrowing of the user experience gap between DEX and CEX.

Nearly 30% of respondents believe that CEX and DEX will coexist in the long term, indicating that some people hold an optimistic view of the continued existence of CEX. The advantages of CEX include fast transaction speeds, user-friendly experiences, high liquidity, and support for fiat trading, which are particularly attractive to novice users and institutional investors. A small number of respondents remain cautious, possibly due to uncertainties regarding blockchain technology, market regulation, DEX technology maturity (such as trading efficiency and gas fee issues), or the iterative capabilities of CEX. This reflects the complexity of the crypto market and the variability of future developments.

3. Analysis of Improvements Most Expected by Respondents to Enhance Trust in CEX

The transparency of the listing process remains the most concerning issue. Over 74% of respondents believe that the listing process needs to be further disclosed, reflecting that users generally feel that the listing process of CEX is not transparent enough, and there may be concerns about "behind-the-scenes operations" or conflicts of interest.

Over 37% of respondents are concerned about the transparency of CEX's asset reserves, reflecting worries about the safety of platform funds. The shadows cast by bankruptcy events like FTX may still not have dissipated for some users.

Additionally, over 35% of respondents hope that CEX will establish unified risk control standards for the industry, indicating that the current risk control measures of CEX are uneven and may lead to systemic risks; over 18% of respondents hope to limit high-leverage trading.