In mid‑2025, decentralized perpetual contracts platforms (perp DEXs) accounted for approximately 26% of futures market volume, up from 1% in 2022 and from 4–6% in mid‑2024. This shift reconfigures liquidity, execution and risk for traders and managers and challenges the traditional dominance of centralized exchanges.
The advance was not accidental: it combines custody, transparency and technical design advantages. According to analysis published on TradingView/Cointelegraph and other industry reports, perp DEXs exploit counterparty risk aversion after trust events at CEXs and offer a public, immutable record of trades, which reduces opacity and censorship. The slogan “Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins” summarizes the preference for self‑custody that drives part of the flow toward DEXs.
The performance gap with CEXs has closed thanks to optimized Layer‑1 architectures and Layer‑2 solutions; names cited include protocols built for low latency and rollups such as Arbitrum, Base or zkEVM, which have reduced fees and enabled fast executions. The adoption of hybrid on‑chain CLOB models has improved price discovery and tightened spreads, making high‑volume trading viable in on‑chain environments.
The capture of 26% also reflects market strategies: airdrops, rewards and loyalty programs have attracted liquidity and “mercenary capital”, while incentives for liquidity providers sustain deep pools and reduce slippage. Nonetheless, the growth has been muted in the media because the expansion occurred among crypto‑native users and in permissionless ecosystems, rather than through large institutional waves.
Perp Dex´s market
The rise of perp DEXs rearranges several operational vectors. For traders and market makers it means greater competition on spreads and new on‑chain arbitrage opportunities; for managers, it poses custody, counterparty and due‑diligence challenges regarding infrastructure and incentive mechanisms.
Risk dynamics change: operating on DEXs reduces exposure to CEX bankruptcies but can amplify losses if there are oracle failures or bugs in smart contracts; leverage remains present and must be managed with clear limits.
The indicator to watch is the monthly evolution of volume and market share of perp DEXs; if the trend persists, the coming quarters will determine whether that share surpasses the threshold that forces operational and regulatory changes in the industry.
