{"id":89812,"date":"2025-10-10T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=89812"},"modified":"2025-12-04T07:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T04:03:40","slug":"perp-dex-old-tricks-new-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/perp-dex-old-tricks-new-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Same Old Pitch, Brand New Engine: The State of Perpetual DEXs"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2025 the sector of decentralised derivatives<\/a> became the main driver of the DeFi<\/a> market. In September alone, total monthly trading volume on perp-DEX<\/span> exceeded<\/a> $1 trillion. By comparison, over the whole of last year the top ten venues processed<\/a> $1.5 trillion in orders.<\/p>\n

Yet behind these numbers lie not only technological breakthroughs but also old marketing tricks: incentives such as airdrops<\/a> farming and, at times, dubious metrics.<\/p>\n

ForkLog traces the evolution of crypto-derivatives exchanges and examines what underpins the perp-DEX trend.<\/p>\n

A centralised foundation<\/h2>\n

The popularity of daily liquidation-volume metrics owes much to crypto futures.<\/p>\n

In 2016 the centralised crypto-derivatives exchange BitMEX became the first venue to offer trading in perpetual contracts (perpetual swaps). Since then, 100x leverage on bitcoin using the XBTUSD contract has been the platform\u2019s calling card.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2014 with the involvement of Arthur Hayes, the exchange initially targeted professional traders and offered margin and settlement in BTC only, with 3x and 5x leverage. Since 2022 it has also supported USDT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Announcement of the launch of XBTUSD perpetual futures. Source: BitMEX<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hayes adapted principles from interest-rate swaps and cash-and-carry<\/a> arbitrage in traditional markets. The key to perpetual contracts is the funding rate\u2014a mechanism that keeps futures prices aligned with spot.<\/p>\n

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The funding rate in crypto trading is a periodic payment exchanged by holders of long and short positions on a contract. The mechanism requires traders holding the dominant side to pay a percentage to the opposite side every eight hours.<\/p>\n

With a positive funding rate, longs pay shorts; with a negative rate, shorts pay longs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Over nine years BitMEX lost its lead amid intense competition and a series of lawsuits and criminal investigations<\/a> targeting its top managers. According to Coingecko<\/a>, at the time of writing the CEX<\/span> ranks 33rd by open interest among crypto-derivatives exchanges, with around $1 billion in daily turnover.<\/p>\n

In 2019 Changpeng Zhao (CZ) launched a BitMEX analogue\u2014Binance Futures. Within weeks it raised leverage on BTCUSDT to 125x, overtaking Hayes\u2019s firm. On October 8, 2025, daily trading volume on Binance Futures neared $120 billion.<\/p>\n

Borrowing the best<\/h2>\n

2020 was the year decentralised finance blossomed. From May to September the sector\u2019s TVL<\/span> rose from $1 billion to $10 billion as users flocked to DEXs and lending platforms such as Aave<\/a> and Curve<\/a>. The \u201cDeFi summer\u201d culminated in the launch of yEarn Finance and a generous airdrop of UNI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In October 2020 a criminal case alleging violations of bank secrecy and AML<\/span>\/KYC<\/span> procedures against BitMEX sparked<\/a> widespread attention. Market participants realised that regulation could reach anyone. Against this backdrop DeFi looked even more attractive, operating in a \u201cgrey zone\u201d that left legal loopholes.<\/p>\n

That same year saw the release of the first perp DEXs, whose chief aim was to combine non-custodial storage with convenient UX<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Decentralised futures platforms had to embed their mechanics in a blockchain without the server farms of a CEX. First-wave projects managed to squeeze order handling, margin, PnL and liquidations into Ethereum blocks. The network became the base of DeFi, but its throughput and high transaction costs were both a weakness and a spur to build the next generation using L2<\/a> and dedicated blockchains.<\/p>\n

The first two perp DEXs\u2014dYdX and Perpetual Protocol\u2014set the tone, splitting development into two branches:<\/p>\n