REAL Ranking
Every exchange scored on Reserves, Execution, Activity and Liquidity, with how each pillar is built.
REAL Ranking
Reserves · Execution · Activity · Liquidity
One score per exchange, built only on what we can measure or verify: reserves, execution from real fills, volume and open interest the venue's own order book could support, and the depth we observed. Volume alone is easy to inflate, so every pillar is something a venue cannot print. A low pillar means weak measurable evidence, not misconduct.
| # | Exchange | Tier | Score | Reserves 30 | Execution 30 | Activity 20 | Liquidity 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S | 86 | 93 | 56 | 99 | 100 | ||
| 2 | A | 81 | 100 | n/a | 82 | 72 | ||
| 3 | A | 77 | 81 | 55 | 89 | 88 | ||
| 4 | A | 74 | 83 | 47 | 84 | 87 | ||
| 5 | A | 73 | 77 | 40 | 73 | 84 | ||
| 6 | A | 72 | 73 | 47 | 87 | 87 | ||
| 7 | B | 67 | 70 | n/a | 69 | 62 | ||
| 8 | B | 66 | 64 | 54 | 82 | 69 | ||
| 9 | B | 66 | 56 | 47 | 80 | 90 | ||
| 10 | B | 64 | 72 | 3 | 63 | 61 | ||
| 11 | B | 64 | 65 | 43 | 69 | 70 | ||
| 12 | B | 63 | 66 | 53 | 62 | 75 | ||
| 13 | B | 63 | 63 | 52 | 66 | 77 | ||
| 14 | B | 63 | 60 | 51 | 71 | 66 | ||
| 15 | B | 63 | 66 | 27 | 84 | 84 | ||
| 16 | B | 63 | 64 | n/a | 67 | 58 | ||
| 17 | B | 60 | 50 | n/a | 69 | 67 | ||
| 18 | B | 59 | 48 | 69 | 50 | 66 | ||
| 19 | B | 58 | 58 | n/a | 67 | 51 | ||
| 20 | B | 58 | 50 | 70 | 43 | 65 | ||
| 21 | B | 58 | 67 | n/a | 54 | 47 | ||
| 22 | B | 57 | 61 | 37 | 69 | 67 | ||
| 23 | B | 56 | 42 | 74 | 48 | 59 | ||
| 24 | B | 56 | 50 | n/a | 65 | 56 | ||
| 25 | B | 56 | 60 | 27 | 68 | 63 | ||
| 26 | C | 54 | 50 | n/a | 48 | 66 | ||
| 27 | C | 52 | 50 | n/a | 17 | 89 | ||
| 28 | C | 51 | 34 | 35 | 68 | 66 | ||
| 29 | C | 49 | 48 | 47 | 49 | 54 | ||
| 30 | C | 49 | 35 | 64 | 41 | 56 | ||
| 31 | C | 49 | 44 | 47 | 48 | 59 | ||
| 32 | C | 49 | 50 | n/a | 43 | 52 | ||
| 33 | C | 48 | 25 | 44 | 68 | 68 | ||
| 34 | C | 45 | 37 | 34 | 59 | 60 | ||
| 35 | C | 43 | 50 | 27 | 45 | 54 | ||
| 36 | C | 43 | 50 | 40 | 32 | 47 | ||
| 37 | C | 42 | 32 | 50 | 42 | 46 | ||
| 38 | C | 42 | 52 | n/a | 41 | 28 | ||
| 39 | C | 41 | 36 | 29 | 51 | 55 | ||
| 40 | D | 40 | 35 | 32 | 48 | 50 | ||
| 41 | D | 39 | 33 | n/a | 47 | 40 | ||
| 42 | D | 39 | 40 | 40 | 75 | 0 | ||
| 43 | D | 39 | 50 | n/a | 25 | 35 | ||
| 44 | D | 38 | 50 | n/a | 28 | 31 | ||
| 45 | D | 37 | 50 | n/a | 26 | 30 | ||
| 46 | D | 37 | 41 | 0 | 49 | 19 | ||
| 47 | D | 37 | 50 | n/a | 25 | 29 | ||
| 48 | D | 36 | 41 | 6 | 37 | 70 | ||
| 49 | D | 35 | 57 | n/a | 19 | 17 | ||
| 50 | D | 33 | 27 | n/a | 66 | 45 | ||
| 51 | D | 32 | 17 | 28 | 37 | 57 | ||
| 52 | D | 31 | 34 | n/a | 26 | 31 | ||
| 53 | D | 30 | 50 | n/a | 16 | 16 | ||
| 54 | D | 27 | 33 | n/a | 24 | 20 | ||
| 55 | D | 24 | 36 | 0 | 36 | 29 | ||
| 56 | D | 23 | 20 | 0 | 62 | n/a | ||
| 57 | D | 22 | 23 | n/a | 23 | 20 | ||
| 58 | D | 20 | 0 | 40 | 22 | 19 | ||
| 59 | D | 19 | 0 | n/a | 41 | 26 | ||
| 60 | D | 18 | 0 | n/a | 41 | 21 | ||
| 61 | D | 17 | 0 | 7 | 45 | 23 | ||
| 62 | D | 17 | 0 | n/a | 33 | 25 | ||
| 63 | D | 14 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 28 | ||
| 64 | D | 13 | 0 | n/a | 25 | 20 |
How the REAL score is built
REAL is a weighted mean of four 0 to 100 pillars. Size is log-scaled, so a venue a tenth the size of the leader still scores about 70. Each credibility check lowers the pillar whose data it questions, an input we cannot measure hands its weight to the pillars we did, and CEX and DEX are ranked within their own type. Nothing self-reported that we cannot check enters the score.
The full method, every check and its thresholds: Exchanges methodology.
RReserves
30 pointsThe one number a venue cannot print. Two thirds is magnitude: clean reserves by evidence tier (live on-chain wallets full credit, regulator-filed audited financials ×0.95, third-party attestations ×0.9, a figure older than a year drops a tier), log-scaled so only the largest balance sheet reaches full marks and a tenth of it still scores well. One third is consistency: whether the resting book, reported volume and open interest are sizes that balance sheet could actually back, plus custody quality (clean share, own-token concentration). DEX collateral is read on-chain from protocol TVL, credited at 5× as a floor on margin held elsewhere.
- Magnitude 20 of 30: Clean reserves by evidence tier (live on-chain wallets ×1.0, regulator-filed audited financials ×0.95, third-party attestations ×0.9; a figure older than a year drops a tier), log-scaled from $100M to the largest balance sheet in the group. Only the leader reaches 100; a venue a tenth its size still scores about 70.
- Consistency 10 of 30: Whether the venue's resting book, daily volume and open interest are sizes this balance sheet could back (full credit at or under 1×, 2.5× and 3× reserves, ramping to zero at 5×, 8× and 10×), plus custody quality: clean share and own-token concentration.
When it is missing: Never N/A for a CEX: publishing nothing where peers publish scores 0. A DEX with no mapped protocol takes the measured-DEX median.
EExecution
30 pointsMeasured execution quality on the shared BTC/ETH/SOL/HYPE/BNB perp basket, each venue compared with peers on the same pair: markouts (adverse selection), all-in cost of a $10k order at the base fee tier, and actual slippage at fixed order sizes. The result is then discounted by up to 12% where fills came in materially worse than the venue's own quoted book promised at that size: an expensive quote honestly filled is not penalised; an advertised tight quote that does not deliver is. A market printing 5% or more of its volume inside the spread its own order book showed is flagged: that volume did not trade against the book on show. A flagged market counts by the square root of its open interest (perps) or volume (spot): big books count for more, but a venue cannot hide fakery behind clean majors. A flagged basket pair earns no execution credit (its cheap fills came from prints inside the spread, not from the book), and the pillar loses the venue's flagged share: each segment's, weighted by that segment's volume. Feed speed is displayed but not scored: emission policy is not engine latency. In a venue-wide score the pillar's weight scales with the venue's verified perp share, since the basket measures perp execution.
- Markouts 30: Where the price goes 1s and 1m after fills. Persistent moves against takers mean fills systematically happen at bad moments.
- Cost to trade 20: All-in cost of a $10k market order: base-tier taker fee plus half the effective spread.
- Slippage at size 20: What fills in the $10k and $100k size buckets actually paid beyond mid, size-controlled so venues are compared on the same trade.
When it is missing: No tick coverage for the venue, or less than 72 hours on every basket pair. Spot-only venues are not covered yet.
AActivity
20 pointsVerified volume (only what survives normalization against the books we snapshot, discounted where volume-reporting markets show no book, and by each segment's share of markets flagged for intra-spread prints), open interest (credited where we observe the perp book, at most 3× clean reserves, discounted when volume turns positions over implausibly fast unless the balance sheet behind the venue makes that turnover affordable), and how steadily depth, volume and positions hold across the window. Log-scaled. In a venue-wide score the open-interest weight scales with the venue's verified perp share. A market printing 5% or more of its volume inside the spread its own order book showed is flagged: that volume did not trade against the book on show. A flagged market counts by the square root of its open interest (perps) or volume (spot): big books count for more, but a venue cannot hide fakery behind clean majors.
When it is missing: None of the reported volume sits in markets we snapshot, so nothing could be verified; a perp venue whose OI we have not ingested is our gap.
LLiquidity
20 pointsResting ±2% book depth over 30 days plus breadth (markets holding ≥$100k of depth), log-scaled. Depth credit is capped at clean reserves and discounted for a CEX publishing no custody evidence or running a book that never moves. Each segment's depth, and breadth, lose the share of its markets flagged for intra-spread prints: a book that volume does not trade against is dead depth. A market printing 5% or more of its volume inside the spread its own order book showed is flagged: that volume did not trade against the book on show. A flagged market counts by the square root of its open interest (perps) or volume (spot): big books count for more, but a venue cannot hide fakery behind clean majors.
When it is missing: A scope with no book we ever observed is not ranked at all rather than scored low.
Intra-spread volume
Per market: the share of its volume filled at a price inside the spread the venue's own book showed, at a price the book did not offer in the 2 seconds before (internal matching, or trades printed at the mid). A market printing 5% or more of its volume inside the spread its own order book showed is flagged: that volume did not trade against the book on show. A flagged market counts by the square root of its open interest (perps) or volume (spot): big books count for more, but a venue cannot hide fakery behind clean majors. A flagged basket pair earns no execution credit; the venue's flagged share (each segment's, weighted by its volume) comes off the Execution pillar, and each segment's flagged share comes off its credited volume (Activity) and its depth and breadth (Liquidity). Honest books keep 0 to 6% of their markets flagged, alt markets included.
Tiers
Fixed bands on the 0 to 100 score, not quantiles, so a new listing does not reshuffle everyone. S also requires a measured execution pillar: the top grade cannot be earned from displayed data alone. A venue with no observed order book is not ranked rather than scored low.
Scores are recomputed after listings or material data changes, reviewed, then published. Every venue's pillar breakdown is on its profile. The ranking, its pillars and their weights are subject to change as coverage improves.