- Onchain perpetual futures reached over $1 trillion in monthly volume by late 2025.
- Traders shifted to leveraged perps amid a weak altcoin season, increasing demand on decentralized platforms.
- Onchain venues — led by Lighter, Aster, and Messari.io/project/hyperliquid”>Hyperliquid — accounted for the bulk of recent volumes.
- Recent 30-day data shows about $972 billion in onchain perp volume, with roughly $203 billion at Lighter, $171.8 billion at Aster, and $160.6 billion at Hyperliquid.
According to David Duong, a researcher at Coinbase, crypto derivatives activity rose sharply in 2025 as traders moved to onchain perpetual futures to seek higher returns. By late in the year, decentralized exchanges were handling more than $1 trillion in monthly perpetual futures volume. Duong said the shift was partly driven by the absence of a traditional altcoin season and widespread use of leverage.
Perpetual futures (perps): crypto derivatives that provide leveraged exposure to an asset’s price without a set expiration date.
Duong noted that decentralized platforms drove the surge, with newer onchain venues accounting for much of the flow. Hyperliquid launched its onchain perpetual futures product in late 2023 and grew after adding spot trading, with a July record that reached about $319 billion in monthly trades, per DeFiLlama. In September, shortly after its token event and Aster’s launch, the exchange briefly posted nearly $36 billion in 24-hour volume and topped decentralized perp rankings.
Funding and rollout activity also increased competition. In November, Lighter raised about $68 million after launching its public mainnet. Recent protocol-level figures show roughly $972 billion in onchain perp volume over 30 days, according to DeFiLlama, with Lighter at $203 billion, Aster at $171.8 billion, and Hyperliquid at $160.6 billion.
“Nevertheless, we think perpetual futures are evolving beyond isolated, high-leverage trading vehicles and are becoming core, composable primitives within DeFi markets,” stated David Duong. He also highlighted equity perpetual futures and tokenized stock derivatives as potential next areas of growth due to 24/7 access and leveraged exposure.
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