Perpetuals decentralized exchanges are closing 2025 with cumulative trading volume reaching $12.09 trillion, up from $4.1 trillion at the start of the year.
DefiLlama data shows that about $7.9 trillion of this lifetime total volume was generated in 2025. This means that 65% of all perp DEX trading volume occurred in a single calendar year. This concentration highlights how rapidly onchain derivatives scaled in 2025.
In December alone, perpetuals trading volume reached $1 trillion, carrying momentum that started in October, when monthly volumes first reached $1 trillion.
The increase reflects a sharp acceleration in onchain derivatives usage in the last 12 months, as perpetuals DEXs absorbed a growing share of leveraged crypto trading activity.
Perpetuals DEXs began to emerge around 2021, with dYdX and Perpetual Protocol widely credited as among the earliest platforms to offer decentralized perpetual futures onchain.
The sector’s growth accelerated sharply in 2023, when the emergence of Hyperliquid marked a turning point.
Perp DEX activity accelerated in the second half of 2025
The almost $8 trillion in volume generated throughout 2025 was largely concentrated in the second half of the year.
DefiLlama data reveals that the first half of 2025 accounted for about $2.1 trillion, while the second half delivered about $5.74 trillion in volume, representing 73% of the year's overall record.
Trading activity remained relatively stable through the first half of 2025, suggesting a consistent baseline of onchain derivatives usage, rather than a breakout phase.
This pattern shifted mid-year, with volumes accelerating in the third quarter before reaching an inflection point in Q4, when monthly volumes started to consistently exceed $1 trillion. The trading volume for the fourth quarter exceeds the total trading volume for the first half of 2025.
As liquidity deepened and execution improved, perpetuals DEXs increasingly functioned as primary venues for leveraged trading rather than supplementary alternatives to centralized exchanges.
Related: Aster says tokenomics unchanged amid community confusion after CMC update
Hyperliquid dominance challenged as rival perp DEXs gain traction
Hyperliquid dominated the perps DEX space for the majority of the year, particularly in the first six months, when its monthly volumes consistently ranged from $175 billion to $248 billion.
During that period, competing platforms including Aster and Lighter remained comparatively small, with Aster posting single-digit billions and Lighter only starting to scale after the first quarter.
The competitive landscape began to shift mid-year as rival platforms accelerated faster than Hyperliquid. Both Aster and Lighter posted sharp step-ups in activity from June onward.
Lighter transitioned from below $50 billion in monthly volumes to consistently exceeding $100 billion by the third quarter, signaling growing trader adoption and liquidity depth.
The most pronounced challenge to Hyperliquid's dominance emerged in the fourth quarter. Aster recorded explosive growth in October and November, as monthly volumes surged to $259 billion in both months.
By the end of the year, the data suggested a transition from a single leader market to a more competitive, multi-venue ecosystem.
Magazine: Koreans ‘pump’ alts after Upbit hack, China BTC mining surge: Asia Express
