Mission Statement & Key Principles
- Executive Summary
- Who the Benchmark is For
- Benchmark Scoring
- Key Methodological Updates
- How to Join the Next Benchmark
CCData's Exchange Benchmark was created in 2019 to assess the risk associated with Centralised Exchanges and bring clarity to the digital asset sector. Over time, the Exchange Benchmark has adapted to significant structural shifts in the market and now includes derivatives benchmark.Since we began, industry best practices have advanced considerably, prompting our report to evolve alongside the growing sophistication of digital asset exchanges. Following the collapse of FTX in 2022, many exchanges improved their operational standards—implementing robust security measures, enhancing market quality, and strengthening regulatory compliance. As the industry becomes increasingly institutionalised, there is a pressing need for diligent risk assessments to aid in decisions around liquidity provision, capital maintenance, and optimal execution.In our November 2024 Exchange Benchmark, we have introduced material enhancements to our scoring methodology, grading criteria, and data verification processes. This includes collaborating with key partners like VASPnet and working closely with top exchanges during our Due Diligence Process, which have bolstered the accuracy of our data collection to ensure the highest level of confidence in our approach to scoring and grading. Exchanges have been forthcoming in providing evidence to support their claims, allowing us to take a risk-averse approach when public sources are inconclusive.In this edition, Coinbase and Binance led their respective Centralised Exchange categories (spot and derivatives). In the Spot category, we identified four AA-rated exchanges: Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Bitstamp. Notably, the number of Top-Tier exchanges in this category decreased from 19 to 16 due to stricter data verification processes and grading thresholds. For Derivatives, we highlight four AA-graded exchanges—Binance, Kraken, Bybit, and OKX—with the number of Top-Tier exchanges in this section increasing from 10 to 14.
CCData's Exchange Benchmark was created in 2019 to bring clarity to the digital asset exchange sector - providing a robust framework for assessing the risk associated with cryptocurrency exchanges. Since its launch, the benchmark has since become an industry standard, providing transparency and accountability in a complex, fast-evolving market. Over time, the methodology has expanded, encompassing several dimensions using a comprehensive data set, covering roughly 80 exchanges across 8 categories of evaluation.
The Exchange Benchmark assesses:
Centralised Spot Exchanges
Centralised Derivatives Exchanges
The Exchange Benchmark is powered by thousands of hours of research and encompasses over 100 qualitative and quantitative metrics. Using a unique ranking methodology, it combines these metrics to assign a grade to each exchange, identifying the industry's lowest-risk options.
Derivatives Exchanges are ranked independently from Spot Exchanges with unique metrics of evaluation.
The Exchange Benchmark ranks exchanges from AA-F. We classify a Top-Tier exchange as any in the AA-BB bracket and Lower-Tier exchanges as those graded B-F. Exchanges in the Top-Tier meet our minimum threshold for acceptable risk.
The rankings in this report underpin CCData’s standard-setting aggregate index methodology, CCIX.
This grading does not connote overall superiority, instead it represents a means of ranking exchanges according to risk. The Exchange Benchmark does not serve as a guide to which platform is superior for trading, nor the reliability of reported volumes.
CCData’s Exchange Benchmark is designed for both institutional and retail investors, regulatory bodies, and industry stakeholders seeking reliable, transparent insights into the risk associated with digital asset trading venues. By assessing exchanges on criteria like security, liquidity, and compliance, the benchmark helps users make informed decisions based on verifiable exchange standards.
Market Analysts and Researchers exploring performance benchmarks and risk factors to inform reports, publications, and strategic insights within the digital asset industry.
Exchanges aiming to conduct in-depth competitor analysis, spot emerging industry trends, and identify areas for competitive parity.
Funds evaluating exchange counterparty risk as they make capital allocation decisions.
Regulators working to shape policy frameworks or gain a comprehensive understanding of the global digital asset landscape.
Exchange Service Providers, including insurers, custodians, and compliance services, seeking insights into the risk profiles of digital asset exchanges.
Investors and Traders looking to assess the risk implications across different digital asset exchanges.
CCData's Exchange Benchmark uses a trivariate weighting system, enabling dynamic scoring that reflects the importance of each category, sub-category, and individual metric. We currently calculate and assess 8 categories of evaluation, 27 sub-categories and over 100 metrics.
Weights are determined across each level, and are selected based on a number of criteria:
Contribution to Counterparty Risk
Importance
Objectiveness
Data Availability
Data Quality
Industry Best Practice
Level of Granularity Available
The trivariate scoring framework of CCData’s Exchange Benchmark is built on the following principles:
A set of categories have been developed that represent key risk areas relevant to centralised exchanges. Each category is assigned a weighting based on its relative risk importance, which is determined at CCData’s discretion and may be adjusted in future editions of the Exchange Benchmark.
Each category contains a range of sub-categories, under which individual metrics are placed. Metrics are assigned weightings according to their significance within each category.
Points are aggregated within each category and scaled according to the category weighting. These category scores are then summed to produce the total score.
Exchanges receive a grade based on their final score, ranging from AA to F. The scoring thresholds for each grade are provided on pages 23 and 45 for centralised and decentralised exchanges, respectively. Exchanges with a grade of BB or higher are classified as ‘Top-Tier,’ while those graded B or lower are considered ‘Lower-Tier’.
We've made several important enhancements to the Exchange Benchmark methodology for November 2024, which have been outlined below.
Due Diligence Process: As part of our Due Diligence process, we send questionnaires to key contacts at each centralised exchange. Exchanges that fully engage with this process and provide supporting evidence for data verification are recognized as having completed Due Diligence forms, which enhances their ‘Transparency’ score.
Category Weight Changes:
Market Quality; from 20% to 25%
Security; from 15% to 20%
Asset Quality and Diversity; removed
Data Provision; from 15% to 10%
Scope Changes: Exchanges ranked E-F in the previous Exchange Benchmark have now been phased out; reducing the scope from 98 to 81 Spot Exchanges.
Going forward, any exchange which ranks E-F for at least 2 consecutive Benchmarks will be removed. Exchanges can be re-evaluated upon request.
Score Changes: The points required to attain AA ranking has increased from 75 to 80 points, in line with significant improvements seen by top exchanges in the last 6 months. No change has been made to achieve Top-Tier status (BB or above)
We have removed the previous thresholding system, which placed minimum requirements on the Top-Tier Exchanges. Currently, the only threshold which exists is for AA-graded exchanges to not possess a Major Negative Event (stringent regulatory action or large hack impacting user funds).
Please reach out to research@ccdata.io if you would like to engage during the next Benchmark period, we are keen to work with all exchanges currently in the report, as well as those looking to participate in the rankings.
Going forward, any exchange seeking to be ranked in the Exchange Benchmark must actively participate in our Due Diligence process to ensure the highest standards of data accuracy for new entries. An example of the latest Due Diligence form can be found here. The form changes as the methodology evolves between Benchmark periods.
Contact Us
Please contact research@ccdata.io with your exchange name and primary point of contact if you would like to be included in the next benchmark.
Due Diligence Form
We will share a Due Diligence form with all exchanges that are ranked in the report one month prior the release of the next report. For the next Exchange Benhcmark (April 2025) forms will be shared in March.
Data Integration
Additionally, we require full data integration to accurately assess Market Quality based on factors like volume, liquidity, and order book depth.
