The cryptocurrency market, once a golden goose for exchanges, is shrinking at an alarming rate. Trading volumes are drying up, retail interest is waning, and regulatory pressures are tightening the noose. Crypto exchanges, the gatekeepers of this digital gold rush, find themselves in a brutal paradox: to survive, they must make moves that could hasten their own demise. They’re sawing off the branch they’re sitting on, and they have little choice in the matter.