Dollar/Yen Trading Volume Surpasses Bitcoin on DeFi Platform Gains Network

The U.S. dollar-Japanese yen (USD/JPY) pair has replaced the bitcoin-dollar pair (BTC/USD) as the most traded on the decentralized finance (DeFi) leveraged trading platform Gains Network.

Gains Network, initially released on Polygon and later on Arbitrum, allows users to trade financial derivatives of cryptocurrencies, foreign exchange and commodities by matching buy-sell orders using smart contracts.

The USD/JPY pair has a registered trading volume of $21.64 million in the past 24 hours, nearly 40% greater than BTC/USD’s $15.51 million and highest among all assets, according to data sourced from Dune Analytics. GBP/USD is the third most traded pair, with EUR/JPY taking the fifth spot.

The dollar-yen pair is also the fourth most traded of the past seven and 30 days.

These numbers reveal a growing interest in trading traditional markets over the DeFi rails. That said, the daily turnover in the global foreign exchange market is worth over $7 trillion. Bringing a sizeable chunk of that market on a decentralized platform is easier said than done, considering the scaling issues.

Gains Network (Polygon and Arbitrum): Trading volume by assets (Dune Analytics). (Dune Analytics))

Traders bet millions on yen strength

Early Thursday, some traders took sizeable leveraged short positions in USD/JPY and EUR/JPY pairs on Gains’ Arbitrum-based platform, betting on appreciation in the Japanese yen.

Perhaps these market participants expect the Bank of Japan to intervene in the foreign exchange markets to halt the yen’s slide. The yen bulls have faced nothing but disappointment this year, with USD/JPY rising 14.7% to 150.00. The way USD/JPY options have been priced recently suggests expectations for wild swings in the exchange rate.

“Someone betting big on @GainsNetwork_io on a Bank of Japan intervention in the JPY fx markets,” pseudonymous market observer DefiMoon said on X. “The last time USD/JPY got above 150 in October 2022; the BoJ stepped up biggly.”

“These are probably the biggest fx trades on gTrade since the platform launched,” DefiMoon added.

The USD/JPY seller deposited $179.6K in collateral to raise a bearish bet worth $8.26 million. The EUR/JPY short position is worth $8.48 million.