What happened?
Decentralized perpetual trading topped $1 trillion in monthly volume for the first time in October, with a week still to go. Hyperliquid led the surge with over $317 billion in trades and a single-day DEX peak of $78 billion on Oct. 10. Overall DEX perps are on pace for as much as $1.3 trillion, a sharp jump from prior records and a sign the gap with centralized exchanges is narrowing.
Who does this affect?
Active crypto traders and anyone using perpetual swaps will notice better liquidity and deeper markets thanks to the volume surge. DEX builders, wallet providers like MetaMask, and liquidity providers benefit from more users and integrations, while centralized exchanges face stiffer competition. Token holders and investors—especially in HYPE and platforms like Hyperliquid—saw price moves and could be impacted further by corporate moves like the $1B filing from Hyperliquid Strategies.
Why does this matter?
This signals DeFi is maturing: more capital and leverage moving on-chain can lower costs and broaden access, drawing both retail and institutional flows. As on-chain perpetuals gain share, centralized exchanges may lose volume and fee revenue while scalable DEXs and their tokens could see higher valuations. At the same time, rising on-chain leverage raises systemic risk and regulatory focus, which could increase volatility and shift where liquidity ultimately settles.