Onchain perpetual futures trading weakened for five straight months starting from its October 2025 peak.
Profits volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) fell to $699 billion in March 2026 from $1.36 trillion in October, according to DefiLlama data.
The decline remained steady throughout the period, with volumes dwindling in November and December before losses extended into the first quarter of 2026.
Daily activity also shows signs of easing. On April 4, DEX volume per person fell to $8.4 billion, the first time since September 6, 2025, it fell below $10 billion. This also marks the lowest level since July 5, 2025, According to to DefiLlam.
This trend signals a sustained cooling in onchain perpetual futures trading after a surge in 2025. Perp volumes serve as an indicator of speculative demand and leveraged positioning in cryptocurrency markets.
Hyperliquid leads based on DEX volumes over the last 30 days
DefiLamy data can be seen that trading activity continues to be concentrated on the DEX platforms with the highest number of victims. Over the last 30 days, Hyperliquid has seen approximately $185.5 billion in trading volume, representing approximately 34% of the total volume among the top 10 DEXs.
That puts the platform well ahead of rivals such as EdgeX, which reported $73 billion, and Aster, with $68 billion.
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Other platforms saw much lower volumes during the same period, including Lighter at around $50 billion and Grvt at almost $40 billion. Smaller properties such as ApeX Protocol, Variational and StandX saw around $16 billion to $33 billion in 30 days.
Much of the onchain perpetual futures activity is concentrated on top platforms as overall volumes have declined from overdue 2025 highs, data shows.
Perp DEX slowdown follows rapid growth
The slowdown comes after a period of rapid growth in onchain derivatives trading. In 2025, the cumulative turnover of DEX perpetrators almost tripled to $12.09 trillion, of which approximately $7.9 trillion, or approximately 65%, was generated in 2025 alone.
This was largely driven by monthly activity, which averaged nearly $1 trillion per month in the fourth quarter.
Futures exchanges are becoming a key battleground in cryptocurrency ecosystems. Blockchains are racing to launch or host indefinite DEXs to capture trading activity, although in the past liquidity has tended to consolidate around a petite number of dominant platforms.
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