Onchain perpetual futures trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) has fallen for five straight months, marking a sustained cooldown from the peak activity seen in late 2025. According to DefiLlama data, monthly volume dropped to $699 billion in March 2026, down sharply from the October 2025 peak of $1.36 trillion.
The decline has been steady, with volumes slipping through November and December 2025 before losses extended through the first quarter of 2026. Daily activity also shows significant softening. On April 4, 2026, daily perp DEX volume fell to $8.4 billion, marking the first time it dropped below $10 billion since September 6, 2025, and the lowest level since July 5, 2025.
This trend signals a material cooling in speculative demand and leveraged positioning within crypto markets, as perp volumes are a key proxy for such activity. The slowdown follows a period of explosive growth in 2025, where perp DEXs nearly tripled their cumulative volume to $12.09 trillion, with about $7.9 trillion (65%) generated in that year alone, largely driven by monthly activity averaging nearly $1 trillion in the fourth quarter.
Despite the overall decline, trading activity remains highly concentrated. Over the past 30 days, Hyperliquid dominated the landscape, accounting for roughly 34% of total volume among the top 10 perp DEXs with about $185.5 billion. It significantly outpaced rivals like edgeX ($73 billion) and Aster ($68 billion). Other platforms recorded notably lower volumes, including Lighter (~$50 billion) and Grvt (~$40 billion).
The data underscores that liquidity continues to cluster around a small number of dominant platforms, intensifying competition for smaller venues which are now contending with both weaker overall volumes and the challenges of competing against deeper, more established liquidity pools.
