On-chain perpetual futures trading has seen a steady decline for five consecutive months after reaching its peak in October 2025. According to data from DefiLlama, monthly volume on decentralized perpetual exchanges, or perp DEXs, plummeted from $1.36 trillion in October 2025 to $699 billion in March 2026, with no signs of recovery during this period.
The downturn deepened on April 4, when daily volumes dropped to $8.4 billion, marking the first time since Sept. 6, 2025, that activity fell below $10 billion. This figure also represented the lowest single-day volume since July 5, 2025. The decline in perp volumes, often seen as an indicator of speculative demand and leveraged positioning in crypto markets, suggests a reduction in risk appetite among traders.
Despite the overall contraction, trading activity remains heavily concentrated among the top platforms. Hyperliquid led the pack with approximately $185.5 billion in volume over the past 30 days, capturing roughly 34% of total activity across the top 10 perp DEX venues. EdgeX and Aster followed with $73 billion and $68 billion, respectively. Smaller platforms like Lighter and Grvt recorded $50 billion and nearly $40 billion in volume, while ApeX Protocol, Variational, and StandX each generated between $16 billion and $33 billion.
The current slowdown follows a period of rapid expansion, with perp DEX platforms nearly tripling their cumulative trading volume in 2025, reaching $12.09 trillion. Around $7.9 trillion of that total was generated during 2025 alone, accounting for approximately 65% of the cumulative figure. Monthly activity in the fourth quarter of 2025 averaged nearly $1 trillion before the decline began.