Perpetual trading breaks $85 trillion as DEX share rises

Perpetual futures trading has expanded sharply, with centralized platforms recording $85.3 trillion in 2025, even as centralized perpetual monthly volumes fell 34% (from $7.11T to $4.69T) in early 2026. Decentralized perpetual exchanges (Perp DEXs) surged: average monthly DEX volume rose from $531.65B in 2025 to $611.57B in early 2026, and total Perp DEX trading jumped from $1.50T in 2024 to $6.38T in 2025. New-listing leaders MEXC (879 contracts) and BingX (565) focused on smaller tokens, while Hyperliquid reached $190.28B in April, about 3.9% of the perpetual market. The DEX/CEX volume ratio peaked at 13% in Dec 2025 and was 10% by April 2026, and Perp DEX open-interest share rose to ~13.5% as overall open interest slid to $99.09B (from $120.35B start-2025). The trend pressures centralized venues to innovate (RWA listings, reward programs) and signals growing market fragmentation between CEX and DEX liquidity pools.