Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are increasingly popular among retail traders and quantitative analysts, while institutional players continue to prefer centralized platforms, according to Jamie Elkaleh, the chief marketing officer at Bitget Wallet.
Elkaleh told Cointelegraph that the most significant adoption of platforms such as Hyperliquid is “coming from retail traders and semi-professional quants.” Retail users are attracted by airdrop cultures and points systems, whereas quants appreciate “low fees, fast fills, and programmable strategies,” he noted.
However, institutional desks still depend on centralized exchanges (CEXs) for their support of fiat rails, compliance services, and prime brokerage offerings.
Elkaleh observed that the difference in execution quality between DEXs and CEXs is narrowing swiftly. “Order-book based DEXs like Hyperliquid, dYdX v4, or GMX are now delivering latency and depth that were previously exclusive to CEXs,” he explained.
Related: Bitwise files for spot Hyperliquid ETF amid perp DEX wars
DEXs aim to provide CEX-speed trading with on-chain transparency
Hyperliquid, a leading perpetual DEX platform, operates on its own chain and features an on-chain central limit order book. “Every order, cancellation, and fill is fully auditable,” Elkaleh stated. “It’s performance without sacrificing decentralization.”
The platform achieves sub-second finality without imposing gas fees per trade, aiming to merge CEX-like speed with self-custody. Nevertheless, competition is intensifying. Aster has emerged as a formidable contender on BNB Chain.
“Aster’s incentive campaigns have recently pushed its daily perp volume to unprecedented levels, even surpassing Hyperliquid on certain days,” Elkaleh remarked. In the last day, Aster recorded approximately $47 billion in perp volume, over double Hyperliquid’s $17 billion, according to data from DefiLlama.
The growth of BNB- and Solana-based DEXs is significant. BNB perp protocols recently reached a daily turnover of $60–70 billion, while Drift and Jupiter Perps have consistently gained traction. These ecosystems, Elkaleh noted, are benefiting from rapid settlement, smooth onboarding, and attractive incentives.
Nevertheless, DEXs are not without their risks. Elkaleh highlighted concerns around validator or sequencer centralization, faulty oracles, exploitable upgrade keys, and bridge vulnerabilities. He also pointed out the difficulties of maintaining reliable liquidation engines during periods of volatility.
Recently, Aster compensated traders impacted by a glitch in its Plasma (XPL) perpetual market, which briefly caused prices to spike to nearly $4 due to a hard-coded index error. This surge resulted in unexpected liquidations and fees.
Related: Aster can flip HYPE by market cap and rally another 480%: Analyst
DEXs and CEXs to coexist
Looking forward, Elkaleh suggested that a zero-sum outcome is unlikely. “DEXs are certainly the future of crypto-native trading rails,” he stated. “At the same time, CEXs remain vital for fiat liquidity and onboarding.”
“In the coming decade, we may witness hybrid models that merge the strengths of both, creating a balanced ecosystem where coexistence, not displacement, propels the next phase of crypto markets,” he concluded.
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