Perpetual DEX Trading Volume Tops $1 Trillion in September

Decentralized perpetual exchanges reached a record high in September, with trading volume surpassing $1 trillion for the first time, nearly 50% higher than in August, according to data from DefiLlama.

The surge, initially driven by Hyperliquid, is being fueled by fresh entrants such as Aster, a BNB Chain-based platform backed by Binance-linked YZi Labs, and Lighter, an Ethereum Layer 2 exchange that launched its public mainnet beta on Wednesday.

The data shows Aster is now the largest perpetuals trading platform among DEXs, recording more than $576.5 billion in volume over the past 30 days, followed by Hyperliquid with $279.7 billion and Lighter with $167 billion.

As The Defiant reported earlier, the influx of traders on Aster considerably boosted the platform’s daily revenue, placing it in second place with $9 million, behind only Tether’s $22 million and ahead of USDC issuer Circle. The platform is also mulling launching its own Layer 1 chain, though no timeline has been set.

Hyperliquid, once the clear leader, is now fighting to retain users. The ecosystem ran an on-chain contest to select an issuer for a native stablecoin, although the entire initiative quickly drew criticism, with some suggesting that insiders had an unfair advantage, raising questions about whether the process was rigged from the outset.

Meanwhile, Lighter opened its public mainnet after roughly eight months in closed beta, positioning itself as an Ethereum-settled alternative to its rivals.

Notably, Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev congratulated the team in an X post shortly after the launch, prompting speculation that the fintech giant might eventually acquire the platform. However, other public figures also congratulated Lighter, so it’s too early to draw any conclusions yet.

Regardless, trading volume on all perpetual DEXs has already surpassed March’s total in just the first three days of October, according to DefiLlama.