The perpetual futures decentralized exchange (perp DEX) sector has experienced remarkable growth in recent months, with monthly trading volumes exceeding $1 trillion for the first time in September 2025.
Aster has dominated this activity, even outpacing established competitors like Hyperliquid. Nonetheless, one analyst argues that Hyperliquid remains the ‘most investable’ perp DEX in the market.
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Hyperliquid vs. Aster: Why an Expert Still Favors Hyperliquid Despite Market Shift
BeInCrypto recently reported that perpetual futures trading volume exceeded $100 billion for the first time on September 28 amid a surge in market momentum. Additionally, data from DefiLlama indicated that total monthly volume hit a record high of $1.143 trillion in September, marking a 49% increase from August’s $766 billion.
Most of this activity was driven by Aster, which surpassed Hyperliquid, the previous leader in the segment. Furthermore, on October 2, perp DEXs achieved another all-time high, with daily trading volume reaching $118.7 billion.
During this 24-hour period, Aster accounted for $81.88 billion, while Hyperliquid only managed $10.28 billion. This shift has profoundly changed market dynamics.
Hyperliquid’s portion of perp DEX volume has dropped from 45% to a mere 8%, while Aster’s volume has surged dramatically.
“In recent weeks, Hyperliquid’s share of Perp DEX volume has decreased from 45% to 8%. Aster’s volume has increased more than 100X to over $300b last week. Lighter and edgeX have also risen to levels comparable to Hyperliquid,” DeFi analyst Patrick Scott pointed out.
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However, Scott insists that despite Aster’s rapid growth, Hyperliquid remains the best-positioned perp DEX due to its fundamentals.
“Perp DEXs are in a long-term uptrend. As a fraction of CEX perps volume, they’ve escalated from under 2% in 2022 to over 20% last month—10X in three years. Hyperliquid has been both the driver and beneficiary of this trend. The current challenge, and the reason some market participants are questioning Hyperliquid, is that the Binance-related perp DEX Aster has surged in volume, capturing over 50% market share last week,” he stated.
The analyst highlighted that, unlike competitors relying on airdrop incentives, it has established a sustainable revenue model. The platform operates at a 12.6x revenue multiple and leads open interest with a 62% share. Open interest is a critical metric for liquidity and indicates the stickiness of its user base.
“The reality is that Hyperliquid has not only maintained but increased its usage in the 12 months since its HYPE airdrop. This reflects the loyalty of its users and the stickiness of its products. User retention cannot be replicated by incentive programs; it can only come from superior products,” Scott added.
He mentioned that Hyperliquid’s advantages go beyond perps. As a Layer 1 blockchain, HyperEVM hosts over 100 protocols with $2 billion in TVL and $3 million in daily app revenue. The ecosystem features native projects such as Kinetiq and Hyperlend, alongside notable names like Pendle, Morpho, and Phantom.
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Hyperliquid has also introduced USDH, a stablecoin supported by BlackRock and Superstate reserves. Its market cap is approximately $25 million, and its yield promotes ecosystem expansion.
Moreover, Scott pointed out that the impending HIP-3 initiative will enable builders to create new perp markets by staking 500,000 HYPE.
“This creates another supply sink for HYPE, diversifies the range of tradeable assets on Hyperliquid, and turns Hyperliquid into infrastructure for other builders to establish businesses,” he remarked.
Finally, Scott acknowledged that risks persist. A prolonged decrease in Hyperliquid’s absolute volume, a decline in open interest, or USDH’s inability to scale could undermine its position. Nonetheless, strong revenue, a loyal user base, and expanding growth channels keep it the most investable perp DEX.
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Perp DEX Launches Surge Across Ecosystem
As discussions over Hyperliquid’s market position continue, a wave of recent launches has intensified the perp DEX landscape. BeInCrypto reported that Lighter has launched its perp DEX mainnet.
Additionally, TRON founder Justin Sun introduced SunPerp, the network’s native perp DEX, which officially went live on October 1 during the Token2049 event.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, has endorsed this influx, emphasizing the surge of new perpetual DEXs and noting that increased competition will foster sector expansion.
“More players will grow the market size faster. Rising tides lift all boats. In the long run, the best builders will prevail. DYOR. Perp Dex era!” the post stated.
As additional perp DEXs enter the market, time will tell whether they can sustain interest and growth—or if the current excitement will eventually wane.
