Onchain Perpetual Futures Surge Past $1 Trillion as Traders Chase Leverage in 2025

2025-12-30 13:24:43

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Source: DefiPlanet Original Title: Onchain Perpetual Futures Surge Past $1 Trillion as Traders Chase Leverage in 2025 Original Link:

Quick Breakdown

Onchain perpetual futures volumes surpassed $1 trillion monthly in 2025 as traders shifted toward leveraged strategies.
Decentralized platforms like Lighter, Aster, and Hyperliquid now dominate crypto derivatives trading.
Equity perpetual futures could become the next major growth area for onchain markets.

Market Shift Toward Leverage

Crypto derivatives activity accelerated sharply in 2025, with traders increasingly turning to onchain perpetual futures as spot market opportunities remained muted. By the final months of the year, decentralized exchanges were processing more than $1 trillion in monthly perpetual futures volume, highlighting the rapid rise of onchain derivatives as a core segment of the crypto market.

The lack of a traditional altcoin season led traders to adopt leveraged strategies rather than spot trading. Perpetual futures derivatives that allow traders to speculate on price movements without an expiry date offered an “unprecedented degree of leverage,” enabling larger positions with relatively small capital outlays.

This shift has significantly boosted activity on decentralized trading venues, where traders can access leverage without relying on centralized exchanges.

DEXs Drive Record Trading Volumes

Most of the growth has come from decentralized platforms, with onchain exchanges such as Hyperliquid, Aster, and Lighter accounting for a substantial share of trading volume.

Hyperliquid, which launched its onchain perps platform in late 2023, gained wider adoption in 2024 after introducing spot trading. In July, the exchange recorded a monthly high of roughly $319 billion in trading volume.

Competition intensified further in September, when Aster briefly climbed to the top of decentralized perpetual futures rankings following its token generation event, posting nearly $36 billion in 24-hour volume, more than half of all perp DEX activity at the time.

Meanwhile, Lighter, an onchain derivatives exchange founded in 2022, raised $68 million in November shortly after launching its public mainnet.

Equity Perps as Next Growth Frontier

Equity perpetual futures could emerge as the next major expansion area for onchain derivatives. Tokenized stock perps could blend crypto’s 24/7 access and leverage with global demand for exposure to major US equities outside traditional market hours.

Perpetual futures are no longer just high-leverage trading tools—they are increasingly becoming core, composable building blocks within DeFi markets.

LIT-43,6%

ASTER-1,02%

HYPE-2,08%

PERP-0,69%

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GasFeeCrier

· 2h ago

Wow, a contract volume of one trillion dollars? These guys are really addicted to leverage.

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FOMOrektGuy

· 16h ago

1 trillion? Are you crazy? This time, the entire market is really going to get liquidated. --- Leverage trading is getting more and more intense, sooner or later it will crash. --- Wait, is this number correct... feels a bit fake. --- It's the same group chasing the hype and playing with fire. We'll see how many are still alive next year. --- Perpetual contracts exceeding one trillion is truly outrageous. I'm still just messing around in spot trading. --- Decentralized exchanges are emerging, which is a good thing, but I'm worried about another wave of rug pulls. --- These people are really addicted to leverage, no different from gamblers. --- Damn, no wonder it's 2025; the whole market is following the leverage trend.

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AirdropJunkie