Written by June, DeepFlow TechFlow

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As Lighter completes its TGE by the end of 2025, the focus in the perpetual contract DEX space has begun to shift, with the market gradually turning its attention to evaluating the next batch of potential token launch projects.

Based on current trends, a new strong launch cycle is highly likely to emerge in 2026. Several perpetual contract decentralized exchanges are still in the pre-TGE phase, but have already initiated ongoing point or incentive programs, generating significant on-chain trading volume with genuine user participation.

For participants looking to get ahead, understanding the actual performance of these projects is more important than simply chasing narratives.

Based on the past 30 days of perpetual contract trading volume data from DefiLlama, the following is a curated list of currently high-ranking, yet to be tokenized Perp DEXs for reference and research.

The most noteworthy unlaunched Perp DEXs to watch in 2026 based on trading volume

EdgeX (@edgeX_exchange)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #4

  • 30-day trading volume: 91.005 billion USD

  • Funding: Incubated by Amber Group

EdgeX is a high-performance perpetual contract and spot DEX built on StarkEx (Ethereum L2 ZK-rollup technology), offering ultra-low latency execution, deep liquidity, and self-custodial trading through mobile/Web applications.

Specializes in professional-grade order book trading with up to 200,000 TPS and a forced withdrawal safety net.

GRVT (@grvt_io)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #6

  • 30-day trading volume: 35.683 billion USD

  • Funding: Raised 35 million USD (QCP Singapore, ABCDE Capital, Further Ventures, etc.)

GRVT is a hybrid cryptocurrency derivatives exchange built on ZKsync Validium L2, combining CEX-level user experience with full self-custody and zero-knowledge privacy technology for perpetual contracts and options trading.

Pioneered the 'hybrid exchange' model to connect traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi); places a strong emphasis on compliance and scalability for institutional/retail users.

Paradex (@paradex)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #7

  • 30-day trading volume: 30.249 billion USD

  • Funding: Incubated by Paradigm (a crypto derivatives institutional liquidity platform)

Paradex is a zero-fee perpetual contract DEX with privacy features, built on Starknet's high-performance application chain, supporting deep liquidity across hundreds of markets including cryptocurrencies and pre-market.

Focuses on a unified DeFi ecosystem with atomic settlement, institutional-grade privacy, and mobile-optimized trading experience.

Extended (@extendedapp)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #8

  • 30-day trading volume: 29.309 billion USD

  • Funding: Raised 6.5 million USD (StarkWare, Semantic Ventures, Cherry Crypto)

Extended is a high-performance decentralized perpetual futures exchange on Starknet, offering over 50 markets (cryptocurrencies and traditional financial assets like gold, oil, S&P 500, Nasdaq), up to 100x leverage, deep liquidity, low fees, and seamless connection to EVM wallets without bridging.

Founded by former executives from Revolut, CEO is Ruslan Fakhrutdinov (former head of Revolut's crypto business). Planning to migrate from StarkEx to Starknet for full composability in 2025.

Pacifica (@pacifica_fi)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #9

  • 30-day trading volume: 17.783 billion USD

  • Funding: Self-funded

  • Pacifica is a Solana-native hybrid perpetual futures DEX equipped with AI-assisted tools, using off-chain order matching for speed and on-chain settlement for safety/transparency.

  • The team has professional backgrounds from Binance, FTX (including former COO Constance Wang), Jane Street, Fidelity, and OpenAI; prioritizing trader-centric design with no native token incentives.

Reya (@reya_xyz)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #10

  • 30-day trading volume: 14.615 billion USD

  • Funding: Raised 19 million USD (Coinbase Ventures, Stani Kulechow, Framework Ventures, etc.)

Reya is a high-performance perpetual futures DEX built on Reya Chain (a trading-optimized L2 based on Ethereum rollup architecture), featuring millisecond-level execution, gas-free trading, deep shared liquidity achieved through passive pools, and an anti-MEV FIFO matching mechanism.

Founded by DeFi veterans behind Voltz Protocol; specializing in highly capital-efficient margin mechanisms (up to 3.5 times efficiency improvement for traders), cross-collateralization with yield-bearing assets, and institutional-level performance secured by Ethereum validators.

Trade.xyz (@tradexyz)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #11

  • 30-day trading volume: 11.684 billion USD

  • Funding: Self-funded

Trade.xyz is a professional perpetual contract DEX deployed on Hyperliquid L1 (via HIP-3), providing direct access to the Hypercore high-speed on-chain order book while focusing on trading non-crypto assets like US stocks and indices 24/7.

Built by the Hyperunit team; its standout feature is providing around-the-clock liquidity for traditional stock perpetual contracts, with ultra-low fees and the ability to deploy markets in the Hyperliquid ecosystem without permission.

Nado (@nadoHQ)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #12

  • 30-day trading volume: 10.341 billion USD

  • Funding: Not disclosed

Nado is a high-performance central limit order book (CLOB) DEX built on Ink (Kraken's Ethereum L2), providing unified cross-margin trading for spot, margin, and perpetual futures with CEX-like latency of 5-15 milliseconds and full self-custody features.

Developed by core contributors from the Kraken team; specializing in achieving exceptional capital efficiency through dynamic collateral net settlement, integrated money markets, and liquidity provider vaults that extract value from trading flow.

Variational (@variational_io)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #17

  • 30-day trading volume: 9.65 billion USD

  • Funding: 13 million USD (Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly, Sequoia Capital, etc.)

Variational is a peer-to-peer derivatives trading protocol on Arbitrum, supporting applications like Omni (retail perpetual contract platform), supporting hundreds of markets, zero trading fees, and aggregating liquidity through a request for quote (RFQ) model.

Founded by former executives from Genesis Trading with deep market-making expertise; its standout innovation is bilateral settlement of customizable derivatives (including exotic options and options), rapid asset listing, and direct income redistribution to users and liquidity providers.

Based (@BasedOneX)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #29

  • 30-day trading volume: 3.491 billion USD

  • Funding: Not disclosed (Delphi Ventures, Ethena)

Based is a professional-grade trading frontend (super app) built on Hyperliquid L1, offering seamless access to Hyperliquid's high-performance on-chain order book for perpetual futures trading, with advanced tools, yield farming, and rewards integration.

Quickly became the leading application on Hyperliquid, capturing a massive market share through an outstanding user experience and creating revenue for traders and liquidity providers.

Ostium (@OstiumLabs)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #34

  • 30-day trading volume: 2.377 billion USD

  • Funding: 24 million USD (General Catalyst, Jump Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, etc.)

Ostium is a decentralized perpetual contract exchange on Arbitrum, specializing in synthetic exposure trading of real-world assets (like commodities such as gold/oil, forex, stocks, indices) and cryptocurrencies, using the RFQ model for narrow spreads and deep liquidity without tokenization.

Founded by Harvard alumni; aims to disrupt traditional CFD brokers by providing transparent, self-custodied, on-chain alternatives with verifiable execution and no broker counterparty risk.

Ethereal (@etherealdex)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #37

  • 30-day trading volume: 1.563 billion USD

  • Funding: Not disclosed

Ethereal is a non-custodial spot and perpetual contract DEX built on Ethena Network (as a high-performance L3 application chain), using USDe as the primary collateral, achieving CEX-level execution with less than 20 milliseconds latency and full self-custody.

Ethena is a native project, deeply integrated with ENA governance approval; aims to become the flagship on-chain venue for hedging and trading around USDe, offering yield-generating stablecoin rewards and the potential for token distribution to ENA holders.

Vest (@VestExchange)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #39

  • 30-day trading volume: 1.286 billion USD

  • Funding: Raised 5 million USD (Jane Street, Amber Group, Big Brain Holdings, etc.)

Vest is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange on Arbitrum, featuring a zkRisk engine for real-time risk pricing, unlimited position size, rapid asset listing (including long-tail and real-world assets), and high capital-efficient liquidity with no risk of over-leverage.

Specializes in fair, anti-manipulation pricing and no position limit, allowing the public to access thousands of markets (cryptocurrencies, stocks, forex).

Astros (@astros_ag)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #58

  • 30-day trading volume: 170.35 million USD

  • Funding: Incubated by NAVI Protocol (Sui's leading liquidity protocol)

Astros is a native perpetual futures DEX on Sui, providing high-leverage trading with deep liquidity through direct integration with NAVI Protocol's lending pool to enhance capital efficiency and generate real yield.

Founded by Jerry Liu; leveraging the high performance of the Sui chain, creating a self-sustaining trading-lending ecosystem that does not rely on token incentives, positioning Sui as a top derivatives hub.

Hibachi (@hibachi_xyz)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #64

  • 30-day trading volume: 204.34 million USD

  • Funding: Raised 5 million USD (Dragonfly, Electric Capital, echo)

Hibachi is a privacy-first decentralized perpetual contract exchange on Arbitrum and Base, featuring off-chain CLOB for under 10 milliseconds latency, zk-encrypted positions/balances via Celestia DA, and on-chain settlement with proof of solvency.

Founded by an elite team from Citadel, Tower Research, IMC, Meta, Google, and Hashflow;

Pioneered 'provable' trading with institutional-grade privacy, CEX-comparable speed, and uncompromised self-custody.

Bullpen (@BullpenFi)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #71

  • 30-day trading volume: 162.09 million USD

  • Funding: Not disclosed (Delphi Ventures, 6th Man Ventures)

Bullpen is an on-chain trading terminal that provides seamless access to perpetual futures and spot trading on Hyperliquid L1, Solana spot markets (including meme coins), and prediction markets through Polymarket via a unified mobile-friendly interface.

Co-founded by KOL Ansem; focused on providing professional-grade tools, one-click execution, and cross-protocol aggregation for retail and professional traders.

Liquid (@liquidtrading)

  • 30-day perpetual contract trading volume rank: #72

  • 30-day trading volume: 156.55 million USD

  • Funding: Raised 7.6 million USD (Paradigm, General Catalyst, Alpen Capital, etc.)

Liquid is a non-custodial perpetual contract DEX aggregator that integrates top venues like Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Ostium into a mobile-first application, offering cross-platform position management, yield vaults, real-time analytics, and automated risk tools.

Founded by Franklyn Wang (former head of Two Sigma AI); specializing in simplifying fragmented perpetual contract trading, providing optimal execution, reducing fees, and institutional-grade functionality while maintaining complete self-custody across multiple chains.

StandX (@StandX_Official)

  • Funding: Self-funded

StandX is a decentralized perpetual futures DEX running on Solana and BNB Chain, featuring high-performance trading capabilities, using DUSD (a native yield-generating stablecoin) as exclusive collateral without the need for staking or locking to automatically earn passive yield.

Founded by an experienced team including former Binance contract heads and Goldman Sachs engineers; innovating by making idle margin capital productive while maintaining Delta-neutral platform design and loyalty activities targeted at traders/LPs.

Backpack (@Backpack)

  • 30-day trading volume: 32 billion USD (perpetual futures)

  • Funding: Raised 37 million USD (Placeholder, FTX Ventures, Wintermute, etc.)

Backpack Exchange is a regulated centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) offering spot, margin, and perpetual futures trading with cross-collateralization, lending, and low-fee features, seamlessly integrated with the multi-chain Backpack self-custody wallet.

Founded by Armani Ferrante (the Coral team behind Mad Lads xNFTs); stands out as a hybrid wallet-exchange platform with a strong Solana foundation, obtaining EU regulation through the acquisition of FTX EU, with high perpetual contract trading volumes comparable to major CEXs.

Public testnet phase

Decibel (@DecibelTrade)

  • Funding: Not disclosed

Decibel is a fully on-chain trading engine natively built on Aptos, unifying spot trading, perpetual futures, and yield strategies in a single full-margin, multi-collateral interface, with CEX-like speed and sub-second finality. Developed in collaboration with Aptos Labs and the Decibel Foundation;

Directly supported by Aptos Labs, designed as a neutral and composable execution layer for global on-chain markets; currently in the public testnet phase.

How to participate:

  • Visit app.decibel.trade, connect your Aptos wallet, mint test USDC, and trade (perpetual contracts, spot, vaults) to earn XP and rankings based on trading volume.

  • Participate in trading arena competitions.

  • Join the pre-deposit waiting list at decibel.trade.

RiseX (@risextrade)

  • Funding: Not disclosed

RiseX (RISEx) is the flagship integrated perpetual contract DEX on Rise Chain (high-performance Ethereum L2), featuring a full on-chain order book, shared liquidity through MarketCore, CEX-level execution, and programmable market deployment for spot/perpetual contracts, with future support for options and prediction markets.

Powered by the ultra-low latency infrastructure of Rise Chain (integrating acquired BSX Labs technology); positioning itself as the home for global on-chain markets; currently in public testnet phase, aiming to launch the mainnet in early 2026.

How to participate:

  • Visit testnet.rise.trade, connect your EVM wallet, and claim test USDC.

  • Trade daily to earn points.

Others

01.xyz (@01Exchange)

  • Current status: Private testnet (invite only)

  • Funding: Not disclosed

01.xyz is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange powered by the N1 blockchain (utilizing the high-performance NordVM engine), offering CEX-level speed, low latency, and feature-rich order book while maintaining full on-chain transparency and self-custody. Built by experienced traders focused on precision and advantage;

Currently in private testnet phase, positioning itself as the next-generation venue for unrestricted scale perpetual contract trading based on dedicated Layer 1 infrastructure.

How to participate:

  • Invite-only; no public code yet.

  • To obtain an access code, follow/respond to posts from @01Exchange, interact with community members sharing codes, or DM active users.

  • Once in, trade a lot, invite friends, participate in events/leaderboards.

Cascade (@cascade_xyz)

  • Current status: Early access deposits are live (invite only); trading has not yet launched.

  • Funding: Raised 15 million USD (Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Variant Fund, etc.)

Cascade is a high-performance perpetual contract DEX on Arbitrum, emphasizing deep liquidity, narrow spreads, and institutional-grade execution for cryptocurrencies and potentially broader asset classes.

Gaining momentum through liquidity strategies and reward points before full trading launch.

How to participate:

  • Strictly by invitation only; access code required for deposits/pre-allocation.

  • Codes will be distributed in limited/random batches to waitlisted users or through community distribution.

  • After obtaining the code: Deposit/pre-allocate to CLS (recent cap around total 1-3 million USD, 10,000 USD per account) to earn points.

Note:

Data source: DefiLlama (as of January 5), SoSoValue, CryptoRank. Information organized and constructed with the assistance of Grok.