The cryptocurrency derivatives market experienced a sharp contraction in July, with perpetual futures trading volumes on both centralized and decentralized exchanges falling to levels not seen in many months. Centralized exchanges (CEXs) recorded $4 trillion in monthly perpetual futures volume, the lowest since December 2023, according to data from Cointelegraph and CryptoRank. This marks a significant pullback after a brief recovery between April and June.
Among major CEXs, Binance remained the dominant venue with $1.4 trillion in volume, followed by OKX at $607 billion and Bybit at roughly $300 billion. The decline was not limited to derivatives—daily average spot trading volume also fell by 23.6% over the course of July, dropping from $17.8 billion to $13.6 billion, per CoinGlass data.
Decentralized exchanges mirrored the trend. DEX perpetual futures volume totaled $531 billion, down 21% from June’s $676 billion and reaching the lowest monthly figure since June 2025, according to DeFiLlama. Open interest on DEXs also decreased to $17.9 billion from a September 2025 peak of $19.4 billion, signaling a reduction in leveraged positions.
Amid the broad slowdown, Hyperliquid stood out as the leading decentralized venue with $199 billion in reported 30-day perpetual volume. Interestingly, the platform’s growth is increasingly tied to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), which accounted for 32% of its second-quarter trading activity and generated 6.6% of its $169 million quarterly revenue. During the week of July 13–19, RWAs even surpassed traditional crypto pairs to become the platform’s largest trading category for the first time.
The volume decline points to a broader cooling of speculative appetite, likely influenced by macroeconomic uncertainties, regulatory developments, and a risk-off sentiment among traders. While lower activity does not necessarily signal a structural deterioration in crypto adoption, it may lead to reduced liquidity and potentially higher volatility, making it essential for market participants to monitor conditions closely.
