 
 
Crypto perpetuals have gained significant popularity over the past two years, with more traders seeking sophisticated market instruments to diversify or hedge against their strategies.
According to a State of Crypto Perpetuals 2024 report by Coingecko, crypto perpetual trading volumes on the top 10 centralized exchanges more than doubled in 2024 to $58.5 trillion, up from $28 trillion in 2023. This was also the case for decentralized exchanges, where the trading volumes hit a record high $1.5 trillion in 2024, marking a +138.1% jump from $647.6 billion in the previous year.
But while CEXs accounted for over 95% of the market share, the dynamics could soon change. Hyperliquid’s successful airdrop in Q4 2024 may have set the stage for a new era of crypto perpetual trading; this pioneer perp DEX has already achieved a total value locked (TVL) of $538 million and currently facilitates close to $300 billion in monthly volumes, according to the latest DeFi Llama metrics.
The goal of this article is to spotlight the top pre-TGE crypto perp DEXs that stakeholders ought to watch as we enter into the next adoption phase. These top picks were selected based on their value proposition and the fact that they haven’t done TGE’s yet, creating a similar opportunity that Hype presented before the launch of $HYPE token in November 2024.
- Grvt
Source: Grvt web app.
 
Grvt (pronounced “gravity”) is one of the promising pre-TGE crypto perp DEXs; this ZKsync-powered exchange leverages a hybrid architecture, combining onchain and offchain solutions to improve the trading experience. The onchain functionality supports critical operations like final settlement and dispute resolution while everyday transactions are done offchain for high throughput and lower costs.
Besides a user experience designed to rival the simplicity of CEXs like Binance and Coinbase, Grvt distinguishes itself with a self-custody feature. This means that traders remain in full control of their assets, with guaranteed smart contract security and automation. Grvt is also among the pioneer DEXs to integrate regulated compliance; the exchange operates under a class M “modified” digital asset derivative exchange provider license under Bermuda Digital Asset Business Act (“DABA”).
In addition to the perp DEX, Grvt recently made a bold move to launch the world’s first compliant peer-to-peer on-chain investment marketplace, Grvt Strategies. This newly added investment tool is designed to expose everyday investors to top-performing strategies that professional managers or expert traders curate. More importantly, all this happens on-chain, which means investors self-custody their funds and can seamlessly audit or track the vetted managers based on the publicly available data on the blockchain.
- Paradex
Source: Paradex web app.
Built on Ethereum’s L2, StartNet, Paradex is a high potential crypto perp DEX that is worth keeping tabs on. This DEX touts itself as “The SuperDEX” focused on scaling open finance by enhancing onchain demand liquidity, performance and privacy. According to DEX’s website, the platform currently facilitates a 24-hour trading volume of $244 million while enjoying a TVL of $54.5 million and open interest at $73.5 million as of writing.
Crypto traders can access 250+ markets on this super exchange and trade different types of perp instruments, including perpetual futures and options. The project also stands out with its comprehensive roadmap which covers some of the main additions that crypto traders can expect in H2 2025; they include multiple collateral types, auto-borrow and lend, full position privacy via RPC masking, fee tiering and core infra-focused developments such as debuting on the SuperChain Mainnet and a public bug bounty.
Paradex is also running an XP and referral program in preparation for its TGE event. Interested traders can go beyond trading perps to accumulate XP points through activities like liquidity provision, trading frequently and depositing collateral as trading margin or into Paradex Vaults. The referral program also features an incentive where traders can earn 5% of the taker fees paid by users they refer.
- Hibachi
Source: Hibachi web app.
This is another pre-TGE perp DEX that is making waves for its unique privacy-first approach. Hibachi leverages Succinct’s Zero-Knowledge (ZK) technology to enable verifiable and private crypto perpetual trading. This is made possible by the exchange’s data encryption approach, whereby the data is submitted to Celestia, after which Hibachi uses ZK proofs to verify all the trading operations.
Hibachi supports several non-custodial wallets that new and veteran DeFi users can tap into; they include Phantom, Metamask, and the Raby Wallet. With these wallet integrations, it is possible to deposit funds via the Base or Arbitrum networks. The exchange also accepts USDC and USDT stablecoins as collateral for trading. Above all, Hibachi remains committed to users’ privacy as the cutting edge for its crypto perpetual trading ecosystem.
With the TGE event yet to go live, Hibachi is currently running a generous reward program that allows users to access early incentives. Some of the ways users can earn these rewards are by accumulating points through activities such as trading and engaging with the platform, being part of the early user rewards initiative, mystery boxes, and a referral program that rewards existing users for bringing new traders on Hibachi.
- Satori Finance
Source: Satori Finance web app.
Backed by Polychain Capital, Jump Crypto, and Coinbase Ventures, Satori Finance is a crypto perp DEX that uses on-chain settlement and off-chain aggregation to enhance the orderbook process of crypto derivatives trading. This DEX is compatible with several popular blockchain networks, including Optimism, Scroll, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Zircuit, and Polygon zkEVM. As such, DeFi users looking to trade crypto perps have the flexibility to operate on any of these chains.
Satori Finance offers up to 25x leverage on its crypto perpetual pairs, coupled with an opportunity for traders to farm points as they await TGE. Users can farm airdrop points in several ways, including depositing funds to trade, referring others, completing tasks, and participating in daily quests. While Satori Finance is yet to announce the official TGE date, the project has already concluded the first two seasons of its airdrop, with the first batch eligible for 3% allocation and the second one for a 4% allocation.
This perp DEX also made the list thanks to its premier platform, which is designed to cater to traders at all experience levels. Casual traders can leverage functionalities such as one-click execution, while professional traders can use the customized SDKs and API’s to gain full control and customization options of integrating their trading tools with other systems. According to the website, this perp DEX has already attracted over 1.1 million users, with the open interest standing at $3.64+ million.
Conclusion
As mentioned in the introduction, the crypto perpetual market is still largely dominated by centralized exchanges. However, with the new crop of DEXs coming up, we are likely to witness more traders moving on-chain in the near future. This is due to the inherent blockchain capabilities that perpetual DEXs possess, compared to their centralized counterparts. The examples highlighted in this article are just a tip of what’s cooking; being in the early stages, they also present an opportunity for interested crypto users to take advantage of their pre-TGE airdrops in preparation for the main token launches.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/crypto-perp-dexs-to-watch/