Perpetual DEXs speed up competition, Hyperliquid challenged by new markets

Perpetual DEXs are starting a new competition, aiming to challenge the leading position and first-mover advantage of Hyperliquid. Other chains are launching competitive platforms, boosting their liquidity and token price. 

The perpetual DEXs narrative is heating up, as competitors try to challenge the position of Hyperliquid. The successful model emerged with a relatively small team, becoming one of the top venues for trading, price predictions and high-profile whale moves. Hyperliquid is now battling to retain its top spot, after HYPE sank under $50. New arrivals are trying to gain attention and liquidity, as perpetual DEXs turned into a key piece of DeFi infrastructure.

Based on fees and daily users, Hyperliquid had an undeniable first-mover advantage. The perpetual futures DEX was also fully permissionless, tapping US-based traders with the potential for high-risk, high-return trades. 

Hyperliquid is still the leader in terms of daily fees, though the newly launched Aster and EdgeX are moving up the chart.

At one point, the perpetual futures DEXs were among the top 10 fee producers, with Hyperliquid second only to Tether.  

Hyperliquid is now facing competition from Binance’s own projects, an attempt at boosting a perpetual DEX on TRON, and smaller chains. 

Perpetual DEXs promise the next star token

The rush to promote perpetual DEXs leads to the potential to launch the next hot token. The 400% expansion of ASTER boosted other competitors, aiming to use the market hype to grab a share of the market. 

As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, other companies like OKX are more cautious, delaying their perpetual DEX versions due to regulatory concerns. In 2023, the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued orders against perpetual DEX trading on three DeFi protocols, including Deridex. 

The current perpetual futures DEX launches have something in common with Deridex, in being no-KYC, permissionless platforms that do not specifically exclude US-based traders.

Which is the best perpetual DEX? 

The newly arrived DEXs aim to compete through metrics like volumes, fees, and available stablecoin liquidity. The price of their native token can also create hype. 

However, Hyperliquid has the primacy on high-profile whales, including the known wallets of crypto influencers. For now, newer DEXs will still have to compete for the attention and liquidity of top whales. 

Briefly, Aster positioned itself as one of the biggest holders of BNB-USDT, though the inflows were not organic. The initial transfers to the DEX originated from Binance’s hot wallet. Aster is still among the top holders of USDT. 

Recently, SunPerp emerged as the latest competitor, supported by TRON and Justin Sun. The perpetual futures DEX launched on September 19, with the promise of rapid buybacks for SUN tokens. As a result, SUN tokens rallied to a three-month peak of $0.035. 

All of https://t.co/FrvjQXTss6’s profits will be used to buy back and burn SUN tokens. Sometimes tokenomics is actually very simple — the rest of the time, the team should be focused on the product: the lowest trading fees, the best trading experience and liquidity, and the…

— H.E. Justin Sun 👨‍🚀 (Astronaut Version) (@justinsuntron) September 21, 2025

Tokens alone cannot determine the winner of the perpetual DEXs war. However, the growing attention into the narrative boosted all related assets. Perpetual DEX tokens now have a total market cap above $22B, after rising quickly in the past week. 

At the same time, Hyperliquid’s HYPE took a step back from all-time highs near $60, sliding toward $48 as the market corrected. For now, only the most hyped DEX tokens are still holding onto recent gains. However, traders warn against chasing the next hot perpetual DEX token, to avoid exposure to outsized liquidity.