What you need to know about perp DEXs: structure and key features

The first decentralized exchanges offering users the ability to trade perpetual contracts* on crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and others appeared in 2017–2018.

* A perpetual contract is a derivative financial instrument that allows traders to profit from an increase or decrease in the price of an underlying asset without buying or selling the asset itself. A perpetual contract has no fixed expiration date and may remain open until the user closes the position independently or the position is forcibly liquidated.

In the final quarter of 2025, the total trading volume on decentralized perpetual contract exchanges exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. According to data for July 2026, the TVL, or total value locked, of such protocols reached almost $2 billion.

The rapid growth of Perp DEXs became possible because decentralized platforms significantly narrowed the gap with centralized exchanges in terms of speed, liquidity, and usability.

At the same time, Perp DEXs retained the key advantages of the decentralized model: trading directly from a personal wallet, no need to transfer assets to an intermediary, and the ability to verify transactions on the blockchain. The growing popularity of perpetual contracts themselves drove additional interest. Demand for this instrument is particularly noticeable in the decentralized segment. In 2025, compared with 2024, trading volume on the ten largest Perp DEXs increased by 346%, from $1.5 trillion to $6.7 trillion.

What is a perp DEX?

A Perp DEX is a blockchain protocol that specializes in trading cryptocurrency derivatives*.

* A derivative is a financial instrument whose value depends on the price of an underlying asset. The underlying asset may be a currency, stock, commodity, cryptocurrency, interest rate, or market index. A derivative does not necessarily involve purchasing the asset itself: the parties make a profit or incur a loss depending on changes in its value. Derivatives include futures*, perpetual contracts, options*, and swaps*.

* A futures contract is an agreement under which the parties undertake to buy or sell an underlying asset on a specified future date at a price agreed in advance.

* An option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price within a specified period or on a specific date.

* A swap is an agreement under which the parties exchange cash flows or assets on terms agreed in advance. For example, participants may exchange payments linked to different interest rates, exchange rates, or asset prices.

The first Perp DEX appeared in 2017, when the dYdX protocol was launched on Ethereum, one of the leading blockchains. Until 2024, dYdX held the leading position in the Perp DEX segment, but it later gave way to newer protocols such as Hyperliquid and Aster.

How do perp DEXs work?

Perp DEXs are based on smart contracts, which automatically process users' trades. They account for deposited collateral, the size of open positions, participants' profits and losses, and trading fees. Smart contracts also monitor whether the collateral is sufficient and may forcibly liquidate a position if the value of the collateral becomes insufficient to cover potential losses.

Asset prices on Perp DEXs are determined with the help of oracles — specialized protocols that collect pricing data from several independent sources and use it to calculate the asset's current market value.

As with conventional protocols, Perp DEXs operate using the AMM, or automated market maker, model. Liquidity under this model is provided by dedicated pools — reserves of digital assets that users deposit and lock in smart contracts to facilitate trades on the exchange.

Popular perp DEXs

1. Hyperliquid

As of July 2026, Hyperliquid is the undisputed leader in both user numbers and daily trading volume, which exceeds $7.8 billion. For comparison, by this metric, Hyperliquid is second only to Binance, the largest exchange, and surpasses Coinbase and Bybit.

According to 2026 data, Hyperliquid alone accounts for more than 30% of the total trading volume of all Perp DEXs.

2. Aster

The Aster Perp DEX is one of Hyperliquid's main competitors. The platform was launched in late 2024 and currently ranks second after Hyperliquid by daily trading volume, which exceeded $1.5 billion as of July 2026.

According to estimates by analytics services, Aster accounts for approximately 20% of the total trading volume of all Perp DEXs.

3. Lighter

The Lighter Perp DEX is only slightly behind Aster in terms of daily trading volume, which reaches almost $1.5 billion. One of the distinguishing features of the Lighter exchange is its zero trading fees.

The Lighter exchange also offers trading in tokenized, or blockchain-issued, RWAs (real-world assets), including gold and stock market indices.

4. ApeX Protocol

ApeX Protocol was launched back in 2022. The ApeX Protocol Perp DEX operates on the Ethereum blockchain, and the platform's daily trading volume exceeds $1.3 billion.

5. dYdX

Although dYdX is a pioneer among Perp DEXs, it has lost the race in its segment. It does not even rank among the ten leading protocols by trading volume.

Over the past four years, dYdX's daily trading volume has decreased by more than one hundred times. In 2022, this figure exceeded $2 billion, while by July 2026 it had fallen below $20 million, even though just a few months earlier the volume had reached half a billion dollars.

The decline in activity is largely associated with the fact that the dYdX platform has repeatedly been subjected to cyberattacks that caused millions of US dollars in damages.