Onchain perpetual futures trading has declined for five consecutive months, with volume falling to $699 billion in March 2026 from a peak of $1.36 trillion in October 2025. Data indicates trading activity has softened significantly, with daily volume recently dropping below $10 billion for the first time since September 2025. The slowdown follows a period of rapid growth in 2025 and signals a sustained cooldown in speculative crypto market activity.
Trading volume for perpetual futures on decentralized exchanges has cooled for five straight months since its peak in October 2025. According to DefiLlama data, perp volume fell to $699 billion in March from October’s $1.36 trillion.
The decline has been steady across the period, with volumes slipping through November and December. Losses then extended throughout the first quarter of 2026.
Daily activity also shows clear signs of softening. On April 4, perp DEX volume fell to $8.4 billion, marking the first sub-$10 billion day since September 6, 2025.
This also represents the lowest daily level since July 5, 2025. The trend signals a sustained cooldown in onchain perpetual futures trading following the 2025 surge.
Data shows that trading activity remains concentrated among the top platforms. In the past 30 days, Hyperliquid recorded about $185.5 billion in volume, accounting for roughly 34% of the total among the top 10 perp DEXs.
This puts the platform significantly ahead of rivals like edgeX, which reported $73 billion, and Aster, at $68 billion. Other platforms recorded notably lower volumes over the same period.
The slowdown follows a period of rapid growth in onchain derivatives trading. In 2025, perp DEXs nearly tripled their cumulative volume to $12.09 trillion.
About $7.9 trillion of that total, or roughly 65%, was generated in 2025 alone. This was largely driven by monthly activity averaging nearly $1 trillion each month in the fourth quarter.
Perpetual futures exchanges are becoming a key battleground across crypto ecosystems. Blockchains have been racing to launch or host perpetual DEXs to capture trading activity.
