Perpetual futures (“perps”) are futures contracts that never expire. Once a crypto-native hack, they took off onchain in 2025. They’ve become one of crypto’s biggest markets, covering traditional assets and trillions of dollars in trading volume. 

Last year, the top centralized exchanges cleared $86.2T in perp volume (+47% YoY), while onchain perpetuals grew even faster: Leading decentralized exchanges reached $6.7T (+346% YoY). DEX volume now represents roughly 7.8% of CEX volume, up from about 2.5% just a year earlier. [Note: while a small number of U.S.-regulated centralized platforms offer products similar to perpetual futures contracts to U.S. persons, all centralized and decentralized exchanges restrict U.S. persons’…