Perpetual decentralized exchanges have quietly change into one of many hottest corners of crypto. Merchants are flocking to them for leverage, transparency, and the prospect to maneuver quick with out counting on centralized platforms. In 2025, day by day volumes on a few of these protocols are hitting numbers that rival the most important CEXs — but not all development is created equal. Behind the eye-catching figures, every challenge tells a special story once you have a look at its complete worth locked, open curiosity, and the way it handles charges.
This text takes a better have a look at the highest 5 perpetual DEXs shaping the market proper now — Aster, Lighter, Hyperliquid, Jupiter, and Avantis — breaking down what the information actually says about their energy and endurance.
Aster
Aster is definitely the identify everyone seems to be speaking about proper now. In simply the previous 24 hours, it pushed by $66 billion in perpetual buying and selling quantity, including as much as $331 billion over the week and $356 billion over the previous month, in line with DefiLlama. That’s almost three-quarters of all perp DEX exercise in a single day — an nearly surreal degree of dominance.
Supply: DefiLlama
However uncooked quantity doesn’t inform the entire story. If you have a look at how a lot capital is definitely locked contained in the protocol, the image adjustments. Aster’s complete protocol TVL is $2.2 billion, which sounds robust, but the perp facet alone has solely $34.26 million locked throughout BSC, Ethereum, and Solana. In different phrases, it’s producing volumes hundreds of instances bigger than the collateral it holds — an indication of utmost capital turnover, excessive leverage, and certain heavy incentives.
Supply: DefiLlama
On the identical time, Aster isn’t simply smoke and mirrors. Every day charges have climbed above $25 million, placing it on the very prime of your complete DeFi panorama. That’s a robust signal {that a} good chunk of this buying and selling exercise is actual.
Tokenomics:
Token: ASTER (launched September 2025).Utility: powers each perps and spot buying and selling, plus options like MEV-aware execution.Vesting: milestone-based unlocks designed to stagger provide.
ASTER for long run development
Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid has been round lengthy sufficient to construct a fame for reliability. It processed $7 billion in perp quantity within the final 24 hours, with $72 billion over 7 days and $280 billion in 30 days. That places it at about 5% of the market, properly behind Aster however nonetheless comfortably among the many leaders.
Supply: DefiLlama
What units Hyperliquid aside is depth. Its open curiosity is roughly $12.93 billion, displaying merchants are prepared to maintain severe positions open. And in contrast to Aster, it has the collateral base to again it up: TVL sits round $2.7 billion, one of many largest within the business. That makes its liquidity really feel sturdier and fewer reliant on short-term incentives.
For extra: Hyperliquid Deep Dive: Perceive HYPE and HLP Mannequin
Supply: DefiLlama
The platform runs fully on Hyperliquid L1, a custom-built chain that powers its on-chain order guide. As a substitute of handing charges straight to token holders, almost all buying and selling charges circulation right into a fund that buys again its native token, HYPE.
Hyperliquid reached new all-time highs with $29B in 24h quantity and $7.7M in 24h charges. pic.twitter.com/uTs0JE5ch8
— Hyperliquid (@HyperliquidX) August 15, 2025
Tokenomics:
Token: HYPE.Mechanism: 99% of buying and selling charges go into an Help Fund that buys again HYPE.Ecosystem: helps each perp and spot markets.
Lighter
Lighter has taken the second spot with $8 billion in day by day perp quantity, alongside $64 billion over the week and $161 billion for the month. The challenge is constructing one thing fairly completely different: a zk-rollup order guide on Ethereum that lets anybody confirm matches and liquidations on-chain. It’s extra about trustless infrastructure than splashy campaigns.
Supply: DefiLlama
That philosophy exhibits up in its numbers. Lighter’s TVL continues to be comparatively small in comparison with its buying and selling figures, that means the identical pool of capital is being recycled time and again. Whereas that may increase eyebrows, the rollup design does not less than assure that trades are reliable.
Supply: DefiLlama
Tokenomics:
Token: not but launched.Incentives: points-based system in place, with airdrop expectations operating excessive.Tech focus: zk-rollup with verifiable matching and liquidation logic.
Jupiter
Jupiter made its identify as Solana’s go-to swap aggregator, however in 2025 it’s change into a severe participant in perpetuals too. On some days it processes over $1 billion in day by day perp quantity, in line with DefiLlama, which locations it among the many most energetic Solana-based venues. The benefit Jupiter has over rivals is apparent: it already controls the majority of liquidity routing on Solana, so plugging in perps was a pure subsequent step.
Supply: DefiLlama
TVL numbers are much less eye-popping than buying and selling circulation, with perp liquidity swimming pools hovering within the tens of tens of millions. That hole suggests Jupiter is leaning closely on aggregation effectivity quite than deep in-house collateral. Nonetheless, open curiosity has been rising steadily, and since it sits on the middle of the Solana ecosystem, Jupiter has a stickiness that newer standalone perp DEXs can’t simply replicate.
Tokenomics:
Token: JUP.Utility: used for governance and incentive applications throughout Jupiter’s aggregator and perpetual markets.Distribution: neighborhood airdrops already reside, with ongoing incentive emissions.
Avantis
Avantis is a more recent entrant however one which’s making waves shortly. Constructed on Arbitrum, it positions itself as a derivatives hub providing perpetual futures, choices, and structured merchandise. Every day perp volumes lately climbed into the a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars}, placing it simply exterior the highest 5 by buying and selling exercise.
Supply: DefiLlama
What stands out about Avantis is its capital mannequin. TVL has grown previous $50 million, modest in comparison with giants like Aster or Hyperliquid, however the protocol shares actual yield from buying and selling charges again to stakers. That’s helped appeal to sticky liquidity and given it an edge in a market the place many platforms burn by incentives with out long-term alignment.
The challenge has been clear about publishing open curiosity and charge dashboards, making it simpler to gauge how sustainable development truly is. Whereas Avantis continues to be small in absolute phrases, its design suggests it’s extra centered on constructing a wholesome base than chasing headline volumes.
Tokenomics:
Token: AVT.Utility: staking earns a share of protocol charges (“actual yield”).Incentives: emissions program reside on Arbitrum to bootstrap liquidity.
For extra: Avantis Will Be Listed on Binance HODLer Airdrops!
Conclusion
On the floor, Aster seems to be unstoppable with three-quarters of all day by day perp quantity. However once you layer in TVL, the story isn’t as easy. Aster’s perp facet has little or no collateral in comparison with its buying and selling circulation, suggesting incentives and leverage are doing loads of the heavy lifting. Hyperliquid, in contrast, has billions locked in and almost $13 billion in open positions, giving it a sturdier base. Lighter is betting on pace and verifiability, although they’re nonetheless working with comparatively small swimming pools of capital.
