In September 2025, the monthly trading volume of decentralized perpetual contracts (Perp DEX) surpassed $1.14 trillion for the first time. This figure not only represents a technological milestone but also signifies that the decentralized derivatives market has officially transitioned from "proof of concept" to "scalable application."

When Aster first surpassed Hyperliquid with a monthly trading volume of $493.6 billion, the industry realized that the competition among Perp DEXs had shifted from a single performance comparison to a multidimensional ecological battle.

This growth is not coincidental. With institutional traders and professional market makers entering the market, liquidity efficiency, matching latency, and clearing transparency have become core evaluation criteria. DEXs, previously considered "slow" and "shallow," are now approaching the trading experience of centralized platforms thanks to the maturity of multi-chain architectures and layer two networks. This change indicates that the trust system of crypto derivatives is being completely restructured.

Over the past two years, "multi-chain deployment" has become the main theme of DEX development. Various platforms are exploring different technological paths:

• Hyperliquid has developed a high-performance Layer 1 to attract high-frequency traders with extreme matching speed and depth;
• dYdX has shifted to an application chain based on the Cosmos SDK, pursuing sovereignty and interoperability;
• Aster continues the order book model, achieving cross-ecosystem market-making collaboration through sidechain optimization and tiered liquidity pools;
• Gate Perp DEX has adopted a more pragmatic strategy—simultaneously supporting mainstream chains like Solana, Ethereum, BSC, and Base to enhance user reach and asset compatibility through a multi-chain parallel architecture.

This architectural competition is essentially a game between "performance" and "interoperability."

High-performance chains mean lower latency and better experiences, but they may sacrifice ecological liquidity; multi-chain compatibility can attract a broader user base but requires more complex cross-chain communication and asset security designs.

Platforms like Gate and Aster choose to "backend" the complexity of cross-chain interactions, allowing users to simply select a network and pay gas fees, thereby lowering the entry barrier. The core of this product philosophy is to transform engineering complexity into a seamless user experience—this is precisely the prerequisite for the industry to move towards mainstream adoption.

In the DEX field, liquidity depth has always been the most difficult competitive barrier to replicate. In 2025, Aster's rapid rise is primarily due to its efficient LP funding incentive mechanism; while Hyperliquid has attracted professional market makers with its centralized order book and low-latency matching capabilities. In contrast, Gate Perp DEX has adopted a more robust strategy—building a "market maker-friendly" ecosystem through a 0% maker fee and a tiered incentive system, rather than relying on short-term token subsidies. This model aligns more closely with the long-term evolution of the market.

In recent years, the liquidity strategy of "subsidy-driven growth" has almost become the norm in the DEX world. Platforms exchange high token rewards for short-term capital inflows, but when rewards diminish and price volatility increases, liquidity often evaporates quickly. This "hot money cycle" makes many projects appear prosperous in the early stages but struggle to form sustainable trading depth. Now, mainstream platforms realize that truly valuable liquidity lies not in temporary capital inflows but in how to bind the interests of market makers and long-term users.

As a result, the new generation of DEXs is shifting their incentive logic from "subsidies" to "structural returns." Aster's LP tiered model quantifies funding contributions and risk-bearing, allowing long-term market makers to achieve higher return multiples; dYdX encourages proactive order placement and depth building through a negative fee mechanism; while Gate connects user participation with ecological growth through cross-chain funding bridge rebates and a points-based reward system. Gate's logic is clear—ensuring that liquidity not only "earns rewards" but also "generates returns," keeping funds within the system to create a continuous positive feedback loop.

From a macro perspective, this shift marks the entry of DEX liquidity competition into the "refinement era." Designs such as fee structures, clearing mechanisms, and dynamic management of liquidity pools are replacing single subsidies as core competitive advantages. In other words, DEXs are no longer competing on "who offers more," but rather on "who retains liquidity." The future winners will be those ecosystems that can maintain maximum liquidity with minimal incentive costs—in this regard, Gate Perp DEX's low fee and cross-chain incentive system is becoming a patient yet robust growth path.

In the new landscape of Perp DEXs, performance is no longer the only competitive point; ecological synergy is the key to determining victory or defeat. In the past, users frequently switched between different platforms, only pursuing marginal differences in fees and slippage; now, with the maturity of Layer 2, cross-chain bridges, and stablecoin systems, users are beginning to focus more on "complete experience" and "asset composability."

Currently, the market is roughly divided into two routes: "performance-oriented" platforms represented by Aster and dYdX, which pursue extreme matching experiences and professional-level liquidity; and "ecological platforms" represented by Gate Perp DEX and Hyperliquid, which emphasize multi-chain interoperability and product matrix construction. The former excels in execution efficiency, while the latter thrives on network effects—when spot, perpetual, Alpha, Launchpool, wealth management, and Launchpad products are unified within the same ecosystem, users are no longer just traders but participants in an on-chain financial system.

This synergistic effect is far more strategically significant than a mere performance upgrade of a single product.

Taking Gate as an example, its ecosystem is gradually achieving deep interlinkage between products. Users participating in derivatives on the Perp DEX can simultaneously accumulate points through the Alpha system, which can be used to participate in the platform's incentive programs and subsequent activities; at the same time, the GUSD stablecoin has become an important settlement and circulating asset within the Gate ecosystem, widely used in wealth management, Launchpool, and other product scenarios.

Within the same ecosystem, these functional modules collaborate to provide users with a smoother asset management and operational experience. Users no longer need to frequently switch platforms or wallets; they can complete trading, wealth management, point accumulation, and participation in new projects under a unified account system. This evolution from "single-point tools" to "ecological closed loops" transforms DEXs from mere matching engines into multidimensional on-chain financial infrastructures.

On the other hand, ecological synergy also brings dual dividends of brand trust and capital retention. When users' funds circulate within the same system and achieve value connectivity between different products, the platform's overall risk resistance and sustainable growth potential are significantly enhanced. This is why more and more institutions are beginning to lay out on "multi-ecosystem composite platforms" like Gate, rather than single on-chain derivatives protocols.

From institutional entry to retail migration, from the retreat of CeFi to the transparent trust reconstruction on-chain, the decentralized derivatives market is transitioning from localized experiments to global infrastructure. Future competition will no longer be about who trades faster, but rather who can build a more stable, open, and extensible ecological closed loop—allowing users, market makers, developers, and capital to find their place within it.

Related: Deutsche Bank predicts Bitcoin (BTC) will become a central bank reserve by 2030, replacing gold as the new value anchor?

Original article: “The Perp DEX Market Enters Its Next Phase, Liquidity Wars and Ecological Synergy Become Key to Defining Future Patterns”

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