The Perpetual DEX Mania: Why Every Exchange is Rushing to Embrace Decentralized Derivatives

Binance founder CZ’s famous quote, “Everyone wants to build a Perp DEX,” perfectly captures the hottest trend in the current crypto market. This observation precisely outlines the interwoven, competitive, and merging nature of centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) forces today.

The frantic rush of established centralized exchanges to launch or integrate decentralized perpetual futures platforms is not a coincidence; it’s a strategic response to the diminishing power of the CEX model.

The Rise of Perp DEX: The Erosion of CEX “Three Powers”

Centralized exchanges are facing the erosion of the “three powers” upon which their historical dominance was built: pricing power, listing fee power, and liquidity dominance. The meteoric rise of decentralized perpetual exchanges (Perp DEX) is the primary driver of this shift.

Data from Q2 2025 clearly illustrates a significant shift in market traffic:

• Trading Volume Reversal: Perp DEX trading volume hit a new high of $898 billion in Q2 2025, accounting for a significant share of overall DeFi growth. Simultaneously, the aggregate trading volume of centralized exchanges (CEX) saw a decrease of nearly 28%.
• Market Share Compression: The DEX-to-CEX trading volume ratio has soared to 40% or higher, indicating that decentralized platforms are rapidly eating into the market share of centralized giants.

The CEX Counter-Attack: A Strategy for Survival and Expansion

Against this backdrop, CEXs urgently need a “liquidity anchor” to recapture users and trading volume. Perp DEXs, with their inherent advantages, have become the crucial strategic choice:

1. Capturing Non-KYC Flow and Long-Tail Assets

Strict compliance requirements (KYC/AML) are a major bottleneck for CEX expansion. Perp DEXs naturally attract users prioritizing privacy and anonymous trading. Furthermore, their permissionless listing mechanisms allow them to rapidly capture market narratives and various “long-tail assets,” including high-demand Meme coins that have not undergone extensive due diligence.

2. Countering Native DEX Competition

Native Perp DEXs like Hyperliquid are rapidly gaining momentum, threatening the CEX dominance in the lucrative derivatives market. CEXs are compelled to enter this arena — either through self-building, investment, or integration — to retain the users and liquidity that would otherwise flow out of their ecosystem.

Key Trends Shaping the 2025 Perp DEX Landscape

The Perp DEX sector is defined by relentless innovation, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in on-chain trading:

• RWA Integration: The integration of Real World Assets (RWAs) is bridging crypto and TradFi. Platforms like Aster are leading this charge by offering Perp trading on stocks such as Tesla and NVIDIA.
• AI and Modularity: Projects like Jaine are leveraging AI to drive trading execution, while modular chains like Celestia provide the necessary scalability and high throughput for next-generation Perp DEXs.
• Narrative-Driven Growth: A “narrative-first” approach, exemplified by platforms like SunPerp, prioritizes community engagement and social attention to stand out against established competitors like GMX.
• The Zero-Fee Model and Points Farming: A major shift towards zero-fee trading and “points farming” has drastically lowered the barrier to entry for users. Platforms like Lighter and Paradex are pioneering this trend, attracting massive retail and professional trading volume through incentive mechanisms.

High-Potential Emerging Projects (Pre-TGE Stage)

Beyond the established players, the community is showing immense enthusiasm for pre-TGE projects, driven by the potential for major airdrops, lucrative points programs, and innovative narratives:

• Ethereal: Tightly integrated with the Ethena ecosystem, offering high-performance trading backed by USDe. Its appeal centers on strong narrative and massive potential airdrop value.
• Hibachi: Backed by Dragonfly, this platform incentivizes trading volume and PnL via Masterchef-style competitions, often seen as an easy “points farm” opportunity.
• Pacifica: Built on the Solana blockchain by former Binance and Coinbase team members, praised for its user-centric value accumulation model.
• Extended: Developed by a former Revolut team, this platform is already live but operating in a pre-token stage, making it a medium-term target for points accumulation.

Conclusion

Perpetual DEXs are more than just a DeFi sub-sector; they are the fastest-growing and most innovative segment, poised to redefine on-chain trading with unprecedented volume and technological leaps. From the dominance of Hyperliquid to the strategic counter-attack by CEXs, 2025 is undeniably the year of the Perp Wars.

While some argue that the DEX market will eventually follow a “winner-take-all” social media model, the aggressive involvement and hybrid approaches of CEXs validate a different reality: the future of crypto finance requires diversity and convergence, not a single monolithic ruler.