Crypto Derivatives Market Shifts Towards Decentralized Exchanges
The crypto derivatives market has seen a significant shift in favor of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), according to a recent report by CoinGecko. In 2025, DEX perpetual volume exploded to $6.7 trillion, a 346% year-over-year increase that occurred despite a broad market decline. This surge surpasses the growth of centralized exchanges (CEXs) and traditional finance markets.
The top 10 CEX and DEX platforms saw a combined $92.9 trillion in perpetual swap trading volume last year, with decentralized perpetual platforms rising to prominence. Hyperliquid ranked No. 7 with $2.9 trillion in annual volume, while Lighter took the No. 10 spot with $1.3 trillion.
The rise of DEXs can be attributed to their ability to handle high trade volumes and provide fast settlement times. Platforms like Hyperliquid have built their own Layer 1 blockchains to achieve sub-second trade finality and throughput exceeding 20,000 orders per second.