On-chain perpetual futures volume triples its market share in a single year

A year ago, on-chain perpetual futures were a rounding error in the derivatives market. Now they’re a line item that centralized exchanges can no longer ignore.

The share of perpetual futures volume handled by decentralized exchanges climbed from roughly 2.5% to 7.8% of total perpetual futures volume over the course of 2025, according to analysis from a16z drawing on CoinGecko’s annual report. In absolute terms, DEX perpetual trading hit $6.7 trillion for the year, a 346% jump from 2024.

The numbers behind the shift

Centralized exchanges still dominate by a wide margin. CEX perpetual futures volume reached $86.2 trillion in 2025, itself a healthy 47% increase year-on-year. But the growth rates tell a very different story about momentum.

The 7.8% market share figure measures DEX perpetual volume as a proportion of CEX perpetual volume. It’s a metric that matters because perpetual futures, contracts with no expiration date that let traders hold leveraged positions indefinitely, are the single most-traded instrument in crypto.

Hyperliquid leads the pack

Among decentralized platforms, Hyperliquid has established itself as the clear front-runner. The protocol consistently captured between 30% and 50% or more of all DEX perpetual futures volume at various points throughout 2025.

Hyperliquid’s edge comes from architectural choices that most DeFi protocols haven’t made. It runs on a custom Layer-1 blockchain built specifically for high-frequency trading, delivering sub-second latency that approaches what traders expect from centralized venues. Its permissionless market deployment feature, known as HIP-3, lets anyone spin up new trading pairs without gatekeepers.

The platform has also benefited from an expanding asset menu. Real-world asset perpetuals, covering tokenized equities, indices, and commodities, have at times accounted for up to 44% of Hyperliquid’s trading volume.

Other platforms carving out meaningful positions include Aster, Lighter, dYdX, GMX, Ostium, and Avantis. dYdX was an early mover in the space with its own dedicated chain. GMX pioneered the liquidity pool model for perpetuals on Arbitrum. Newer entrants like Ostium and Avantis have leaned into the RWA perpetual thesis, offering contracts on traditional financial instruments.

Why traders are moving on-chain

The introduction of RWA perpetuals has genuinely expanded the addressable market. A trader in Southeast Asia who wants leveraged exposure to the S&P 500 without a US brokerage account now has options that didn’t exist 18 months ago.

DeFiLlama’s derivatives dashboards now track on-chain perpetual volume with the same granularity that was once reserved for spot DEX aggregators.

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