Perp Dex Trading Volume Smashes Records With $340B in a Month

Decentralized perpetual exchanges (Perp DEXs) have shattered previous records, with trading volumes in December 2024 soaring to $344.75 billion.

According to decentralized finance (DeFi) data platform DefiLlama, this marks the largest monthly volume ever recorded, surpassing the previous peak of $310 billion in March 2024 by over 11%.

The new record in monthly perp DEX volume comes as November also showed remarkable performance, with $258 billion in trading volume, up by more than 80% compared to October’s $141.6 billion. ​

To take one day alone, December 29, 2024, perpetual DEX trading volumes reached $9.73 billion, reflecting a 16.64% increase compared to the previous day.

Techopedia explores this soaring phenomenon.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Hyperliquid Dominates Perp DEX Market
3. DEX Trading Volume Hits Record $462 Billion in December
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Hyperliquid Dominates Perp DEX Market
3. DEX Trading Volume Hits Record $462 Billion in December
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Perpetual contracts are a type of cryptocurrency derivative that lets traders bet on the price of an asset without actually owning it, and they don’t have an expiry date like traditional futures.

Perp DEX volume refers to the total amount of trading activity on DEXs that offer perpetual contracts. This volume shows how much interest and activity there is in decentralized trading, where users can trade directly with each other without needing a centralized platform.

A high perp DEX volume indicates growing trust and participation in DeFi, as well as the increasing demand for advanced trading tools like perpetual contracts. It is even considered a sign of the maturity and adoption of the crypto market.

Some of the more popular perp DEX platforms include dYdX, GMX, Hyperliquid, ApolloX, and Vertex Protocol, some of which offer high leverage options of up to 250x.

Hyperliquid Dominates Perp DEX Market

The HyperLiquid platform is currently ranked as the top DEX for derivatives, posting $4.37 billion in 24-hour volume, according to data from DeFiLllama. It registered a record $155 billion in volume in December, with its all-time volume sitting at roughly $616 billion.

Launched in 2023, the platform operates on its proprietary Layer 1 blockchain, Hyperliquid L1, designed for high-speed financial applications, enabling fast on-chain execution and low fees. The platform supports over 130 crypto assets and offers up to 50x leverage.

Hyperliquid’s community-first approach has further boosted its popularity. In November, the platform executed one of the largest airdrops in DeFi history by distributing 310 million HYPE tokens to its community.

Following the airdrop, the price of HYPE surged to an all-time high of around $35, theoretically making the total airdrop worth approximately $10.8 billion at the token’s peak.

Just recently, HyperLiquid also introduced native staking for its HYPE token holders. Stakers can choose among 16 validators to secure the network and earn rewards.

“Users can stake HYPE to a trusted validator and earn staking rewards in HYPE,” the project said in a post on X. “Users may consider different metrics when choosing which validators to stake to, such as uptime, commission, reputation, and community contributions.”

Staking is now live on mainnet.

Staking is an important milestone for Hyperliquid because it allows the diverse community of HYPE stakers to collectively secure the network. Like other proof of stake networks, new blocks on Hyperliquid are proposed by validators in proportion to… pic.twitter.com/J8uECmHGwK

— Hyper Foundation (@HyperFND) December 30, 2024

DEX Trading Volume Hits Record $462 Billion in December

As perpetual DEXs achieved record-breaking volumes last month, the overall DEX market also set a new all-time high in trading activity. According to data from DeFi analytics platform DefiLlama, DEXs registered a record $434.8 billion.

This marks the highest monthly volume ever recorded for DEXs, building on November’s impressive $374 billion. The increase has been attributed to a renewed optimism in the DeFi market, sparked by expectations of favorable U.S. regulations following Donald Trump’s presidential victory.

Uniswap maintained its position as the top-performing DEX, handling $106.4 billion in trading volume over the month. PancakeSwap followed closely with $96.4 billion, while Solana’s Raydium took third place with $58 billion.

The rise in Raydium’s activity coincided with a spike in revenue across Solana-based decentralized applications (DApps). According to research by Syndica, Solana DApps generated $365 million in revenue during November, largely fueled by memecoin projects launched on Pump.fun.

Other notable performers included Aerodrome and Orca, which recorded $31 billion and $22 billion in trading volumes, respectively. Lifinity, Curve Finance, and Hyperliquid collectively accounted for $43.6 billion.

The Bottom Line

The record-breaking $344.75 billion in December perpetual DEX trading volume is an indication of the growing demand for decentralized financial tools and advanced derivatives trading in DeFi.

It is a somewhat staggering amount of money moving through DeFi, and shows the growing appetite of speculators, maturing from a simple “hodl” mentality of people’s favorite tokens.

FAQs