After a spectacular surge in 2025, onchain perpetual futures trading is experiencing a significant and sustained cooldown. Data from onchain analytics platform DefiLlama reveals that trading volumes on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) for these leveraged derivatives have declined for five consecutive months since peaking in October 2025.
A Steady Decline From 2025’s Heights
The monthly trading volume for perpetual futures on DEXs fell from a staggering $1.36 trillion in October 2025 to $699 billion in March 2026. This represents a drop of nearly 50% in just five months, with volumes slipping consistently through November and December before extending losses throughout the first quarter of 2026.
The softening trend is also evident in daily activity. On April 4, 2026, total perp DEX volume dipped to $8.4 billion, marking the first time it fell below the $10 billion threshold since September 6, 2025. This daily figure is also the lowest recorded since July 5, 2025, according to DefiLlama’s tracking. Perpetual futures volumes are a critical gauge of speculative demand and leveraged positioning across crypto markets, making this sustained decline a notable signal of shifting trader sentiment or market conditions.
Market Concentration: Hyperliquid’s Dominance
Despite the overall market contraction, trading activity remains heavily concentrated among a small group of leading platforms. Over the past 30 days, Hyperliquid has been the clear leader, reporting approximately $185.5 billion in volume. This single platform accounted for roughly 34% of the total volume among the top 10 perp DEXs, underscoring its entrenched market position.
Its nearest competitors, edgeX and Aster, reported volumes of $73 billion and $68 billion respectively over the same period—significant sums, but still well behind Hyperliquid’s lead. The next tier of platforms, including Lighter (~$50 billion) and Grvt (~$40 billion), showed notably lower activity. Even smaller venues like ApeX Protocol, Variational, and StandX each captured between $16 billion and $33 billion in 30-day volume. This hierarchy illustrates that even as total market pie shrinks, a disproportionate share of the remaining activity continues to flow to established leaders.
Context: The Unprecedented 2025 Boom
The current slowdown follows a period of explosive growth that redefined the onchain derivatives landscape. Throughout 2025, perp DEXs nearly tripled their cumulative annual volume, reaching a total of $12.09 trillion. Remarkably, about $7.9 trillion—or 65% of that total—was generated solely in 2025. This growth was particularly intense in the fourth quarter, where monthly activity averaged nearly $1 trillion.
This boom turned perpetual futures DEXs into a key competitive frontier across the crypto ecosystem. Various blockchain networks aggressively launched or sought to host these platforms to capture trading fees and liquidity. However, historical patterns suggest that liquidity and volume tend to consolidate around a small number of dominant venues, a dynamic clearly reflected in Hyperliquid’s current market share.
Perpetual futures DEX monthly trading volumes. Source: DefiLlama
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism.
