DeFi perpetuals top $1 trillion in October
Decentralized perpetuals trading exceeded $1 trillion in October with about a week remaining, driven primarily by Hyperliquid’s $317.6 billion in volume. At the current pace, monthly decentralized perpetuals are on track for roughly $1.3 trillion.
DeFiLlama data show Hyperliquid at the top, followed by Lighter with $259 billion, Aster with $178.2 billion and edgeX with $132.5 billion. Smaller decentralized platforms made up the remainder. The sector hit a single-day high of about $78 billion on Oct. 10.
Perpetual contracts trade continuously, offer high leverage, have no fixed expiration and allow positions that profit from rising or falling prices. These contract features have concentrated order flow and speculative activity on decentralized venues during recent market moves.
Perpetual contracts trade continuously, offer high leverage, have no fixed expiration and allow positions that profit from rising or falling prices. These contract features have concentrated order flow and speculative activity on decentralized venues during recent market moves.
Centralized exchanges still report larger absolute volumes: market data show Binance and Bybit with roughly $69.3 billion and $26 billion in 24-hour volume, respectively. Developers have rolled out improved front ends and wallet integrations that make decentralized perpetuals easier to access.
On Oct. 8, MetaMask rolled out native perpetuals trading powered by Hyperliquid in its mobile app. Infinex founder Kain Warwick has publicly praised Hyperliquid and has personally bought HYPE tokens in early 2025.
Decentralized perps platforms have evolved over nearly a decade, with projects such as Synthetix, dYdX and GMX among earlier efforts. Recent protocol upgrades, redesigned front ends and wallet links have broadened trader access and helped lift volumes this month.
As GNCrypto pointed out earlier, signaling growing institutional interest, Bitwise filed with the U.S. SEC for a HYPE spot ETF that would hold Hyperliquid’s native token and allow authorized participants to create and redeem shares.
Hyperliquid’s Layer-1 design, low latency and HYPE’s fee-and-discount mechanics make the protocol an attractive candidate for issuers seeking exposure to high-volume on-chain trading venues.
On Oct. 8, MetaMask rolled out native perpetuals trading powered by Hyperliquid in its mobile app. Infinex founder Kain Warwick has publicly praised Hyperliquid and has personally bought HYPE tokens in early 2025.
Decentralized perps platforms have evolved over nearly a decade, with projects such as Synthetix, dYdX and GMX among earlier efforts. Recent protocol upgrades, redesigned front ends and wallet links have broadened trader access and helped lift volumes this month.
As GNCrypto pointed out earlier, signaling growing institutional interest, Bitwise filed with the U.S. SEC for a HYPE spot ETF that would hold Hyperliquid’s native token and allow authorized participants to create and redeem shares.
Hyperliquid’s Layer-1 design, low latency and HYPE’s fee-and-discount mechanics make the protocol an attractive candidate for issuers seeking exposure to high-volume on-chain trading venues.
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