Hyperliquid has extended its lead in the decentralized perpetuals exchange market, processing significantly more trading volume than competitors as traders continue to favor the platform for leveraged positions.
The perpetuals-focused decentralized exchange has outpaced rivals, including Aster and Lighter, which have struggled to convert short-term activity into sustainable trading volumes.
Over the past seven days, Hyperliquid processed approximately $40.7 billion in perpetual trading volume, according to data from CryptoRank and DefiLlama. This exceeded Aster’s $31.7 billion and Lighter’s $25.3 billion in the same period, demonstrating Hyperliquid’s significant market share in the decentralized derivatives sector.
The dominance becomes even more apparent when examining open interest, which measures where traders are willing to hold leveraged positions rather than simply rotate trading flow.
Hyperliquid held roughly $9.57 billion in open interest over the last 24 hours, while all other major perpetual DEXs combined, including Aster, Lighter, Variational, edgeX, and Parade,x accounted for approximately $7.34 billion.
This gap suggests Hyperliquid has become the primary venue where traders park their risk exposure, not merely chase trading volume. The platform’s ability to retain traders indicates stronger confidence among the trading community compared to its competitors.
Lighter’s recent experience illustrates the challenges facing competing platforms. The decentralized exchange saw trading volumes surge ahead of its airdrop distribution in late December, but experienced a sharp slowdown following the token distribution. Weekly trading volume fell nearly threefold from its December peak of over $600 million, highlighting how quickly liquidity can retreat once token rewards are reduced or realized.
This pattern reflects broader structural challenges in the perpetuals DEX market. BitMEX CEO Stephan Lutz warned at Token2049 that many perpetual DEXs rely on incentive-heavy models that struggle to retain liquidity once rewards normalize.
In comments to CoinDesk, Lutz described token incentives as a form of paid advertising that can generate bursts of activity but often fails to sustain long-term risk commitment from traders.
Lighter’s post-airdrop decline demonstrates this vulnerability, even as Hyperliquid’s larger share of open interest suggests it may be better positioned to retain traders when incentive programs fade or are reduced.
Despite its operational dominance, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has faced selling pressure in recent weeks. Like other exchange and decentralized finance governance tokens, HYPE has reflected persistent skepticism around emissions schedules, value accrual mechanisms, and long-term tokenomics.
The market currently appears comfortable separating venue utility from token exposure. Hyperliquid is winning the competition for trading flow and leverage access, but whether the platform can convert its operational lead into durable economic value for token holders remains to be determined.
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