According to data from DefiLlama, perpetual DEXs processed more than $1 trillion in trading volume last month, marking the third consecutive month since October 2025 with a trading volume of more than $1 trillion. October saw the highest trading volume across all perpetual DEXs, at approximately $1.4 trillion.
The second half of 2025 saw a trading volume of over $5 trillion, compared to around $2.1 trillion in the first half. Based on on-chain data, the highest transaction volume occurred in October, accounting for approximately $1.4 trillion, followed by November and December, both of which recorded transaction volumes of over $1 trillion.
Trading volume in the second half of the year accounted for approximately 73% of the annual trading volume of the entire perpetual market.
On-chain data shows persistent volume activity will triple in 2025
Perpetual Protocol (PERP) and dYdX are among the early DEXs for perpetual futures trading, launched around 2021. After that, the market trading volume increased, especially after 2023 when Hyperliquid decentralized blockchain entered the market. According to DefiLlama, trading volume in 2025 increased by more than three times compared to 2024 data.
PERP trading volume will more than triple in 2025
The sector has moved from a near-monopoly dominated by hyperliquids to a highly competitive one.
Primarily driven by liquidity rotation from meme coins, PERPS trading volume reached $1.8 trillion in October and returned to $864 million at the close. … pic.twitter.com/jl4t3x0xby
— CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) January 8, 2026
Based on on-chain data, cumulative perpetual transaction volume will reach approximately $8 trillion in 2025, surpassing the approximately $2.4 trillion recorded in 2024.
Hyperliquid DEX dominated the perpetual futures market, with consecutive monthly trading volumes exceeding $100 billion throughout the year. DEX platforms such as Aster, Lighter, and EdgeX emerged in late 2025 to challenge Hyperliquid’s dominance. As competitive markets emerged, the overall narrative of the market changed, evolving into a situation where it was no longer dominated by a single platform, but instead dominated by multiple venues.
Hyperliquid captured approximately 71% of the perpetual contract market in 2025. Network shares plummeted in November, with Lighter, Aster, and EdgeX emerging with around 27.7%, 19.3%, and 14.6%, respectively.
Hyperliquid’s 2026 trading volume peaked at about $45 billion, compared to Lighter’s $33 billion, EdgeX’s $25 billion, and Aster’s $43 billion. Regarding prices, please contact Aster generated Annual fees are $358 million and Hyperliquid’s is $749 million.
Lighter surpassed Hyperliquid in trading volume in December, with approximately $200 billion in trading volume compared to Hyperliquid’s approximately $169 billion in trading volume during the same period. Monthly writer volume increased from a low of $1.1 billion in February to a peak of $292 billion recorded in November.
So far, Lighter ranks third in terms of trading volume, behind Aster and Hyper Liquid.
Hyperliquid’s design architecture supports network excellence
Perpetual DEX trading patterns primarily allow traders to leverage their positions, rather than acting as a supplementary alternative to centralized exchanges, giving them significant leverage to expand their exposure far beyond their initial capital. The overall maturity of the sector shows that liquidity and execution capabilities are increasing and meeting the requirements of professional and institutional traders.
Hyperliquid’s network is an L1 blockchain designed for derivatives trading using the HyperBFT consensus mechanism. This mechanism supports sub-second order confirmation and 200,000 TPS, which is more than many CEXs.
HyperLiquid’s current open interest, which represents the total amount of open perpetual contracts, stands at $8.95 billion. Defilama data Aster’s OI is $2.62 billion and Leiter’s OI is $1.415 billion. Launched in September, Aster grew nearly 2,800% in its first week, trading from a low of $0.08 to $2.42. Trading volume reached $70 billion at its peak. At one point, it dominated the entire DEX perpetual contract market.
At the time of publication, Aster was trading at $0.7, down 1.3% on the daily chart. Hyperliquid token HYPE fell 2.7%is trading at $25.50with a market capitalization of $8.66 billion. The HYPE token has increased by 4.4% since the beginning of 2026, bringing network-wide PERP volume to approximately $43 billion in the past week.
