Brazilian Crypto Trading Volume Surges in May, Fueled by Bitcoin’s Rise

Brazilian cryptocurrency traders were highly active in May, driven by Bitcoin’s strong performance. A total of R$ 19.8 billion was traded in cryptocurrencies, marking a 19% increase compared to April’s R$ 16.6 billion. Data comes from Mercado Cripto, a leading price aggregator for the Brazilian market.

Tether (USDT) was the most traded asset, with R$ 7.4 billion, followed by Bitcoin at R$ 6.8 billion. These two cryptocurrencies have consistently led trading volumes in recent months.

However, January remains the record month for 2025, with R$ 20 billion traded on Brazilian exchanges. This period coincided with Bitcoin reaching an all-time high of R$ 660,000 per unit.

“May 2025 marked a new phase for Bitcoin, solidifying its role as a key asset in the global financial landscape. With an appreciation of nearly 30%, it surpassed its historical maximum and reached US$ 111,980 on Bitcoin Pizza Day, regaining its position as the fifth largest asset in the world by market capitalization, with a market cap above US$ 2 trillion,” said Ana de Mattos, Technical Analyst and Trading Partner at Ripio.

Bitcoin’s Dollar High, Real Value Lags

A key highlight of May was Bitcoin’s new all-time high against the dollar, reaching US$ 112,000 on various exchanges. However, in Brazil, the price in Reais has not yet surpassed its peak of R$ 635,000 on May 22 – still below January’s R$ 660,000.

Ethereum (ETH) also performed well, with the third-highest trading volume at R$ 3.3 billion, representing 16% of May’s total.

Memecoin Popularity Wanes?

Interestingly, trading volumes for memecoins decreased compared to the beginning of the year.

Dogecoin, for example, saw a volume of R$ 228 million in January 2025, but only R$ 83 million in May. Similarly, Shiba Inu’s volume dropped from R$ 62 million in January to R$ 32 million in May.

The exception was Pepe (PEPE), which experienced increased trading activity. In May, the memecoin moved R$ 164 million, exceeding the R$ 137 million recorded in January.

Binance Dominates Brazilian Market Share

According to Mercado Cripto, Binance holds a 51.9% share (R$ 10 billion) of the total trading volume, remaining the most popular platform among Brazilian users throughout 2025.

NovaDAX appears to be the second largest in volume, with 12%. However, the reliability of the data provided by the exchange is rated only 3 out of 10, suggesting the volume may differ from the exchange’s reported figures.

Mercado Bitcoin secured the third position, accounting for 10.8% of the total volume in Brazil, followed by BityPreço with 6.6%. The remaining 15 exchanges collectively contributed 18.7%, completing the consolidated data from the 19 leading exchanges with BRL pairs.