Decibel Unveils Aptos-Based Perpetuals Exchange With Smart Contract Settlement

700K users and $58M in deposits back Decibel’s shift to a fully onchain perpetuals exchange on Aptos mainnet.

Onchain derivatives trading continues to expand as new venues push for transparent execution. Decibel, a perpetuals exchange incubated by Aptos Labs, has now gone live on Aptos mainnet. The launch follows a large-scale testnet phase that drew hundreds of thousands of users and significant committed capital. Mainnet activation marks Decibel’s shift into a fully operational trading venue with live user funds.

Aptos-Based Perpetuals Exchange Goes Live After 1M Daily Testnet Trades

Decibel Foundation confirmed that the protocol recorded over 700,000 unique accounts during the testnet. Daily active accounts reached 132,000, with more than one million trades executed per day. The pre-deposit campaign attracted $58 million in committed capital before the mainnet launch.

🔊 @DecibelTrade Mainnet is LIVE!

The onchain trading engine, built on the high-speed rails of Aptos for real-time global value movement, is here. Decibel delivers a unified exchange layer for any asset, any trader, anywhere.

Co-developed by Decibel Foundation & @AptosLabs. pic.twitter.com/gf7R6Vf35V

— Aptos (@Aptos) February 26, 2026

The platform runs a fully onchain central limit order book, so every order, trade, and settlement can be checked publicly. As a result, matching, risk checks, and liquidations all happen directly on smart contracts. Because finality takes less than a second, traders can cancel orders quickly and adjust their positions without delay.

Aptos forms the base layer for the platform. It processes blocks in under 50 milliseconds and reaches finality in less than 500 milliseconds. In addition, its Block-STM system allows many transactions to run at the same time, which increases throughput.

An encrypted mempool also helps reduce front-running and some MEV risks. With this speed and design, traders can see tighter spreads and faster liquidations.

Risk engine runs fully onchain and applies margin limits, mark-to-market pricing, and auto-deleveraging through clear preset rules. Therefore, no offchain party can adjust risk settings at will. Traders can review these rules in advance and understand how the system will react during market swings.

Native Stablecoin and Centralized Liquidity Pool Set Foundation for Onchain Trading

Decibel Liquidity Pool serves as a built-in market maker and liquidation backstop. Risk settings were developed with Gauntlet, a firm known for onchain risk modeling. Because liquidity sits inside one core pool, depth stays concentrated instead of being split across different venues.

Cross-chain access forms a core component of launch. X-Chain Accounts allow traders to arrive from Aptos, Ethereum, Solana, or directly from centralized exchanges. During the pre-deposit phase, roughly 50% of deposits originated from Solana and Ethereum. Capital moves directly into execution without complex bridging steps.

usDCBL serves as default collateral. Dollar-denominated stablecoin is issued by Bridge, a Stripe company. The model retains stablecoin-related economic value inside the protocol. And thus, it does not rely solely on trading fees.

Decibel Rolls Out Onchain Risk Engine and Liquidity Pool on Aptos Mainnet

Institutional-grade tools are available at launch. APIs, subaccounts, and real-time risk dashboards are available. Chainlink powers pricing and liquidation infrastructure with low-latency feeds. Smart contracts underwent security audits prior to mainnet release.

Builder Codes introduce an open distribution layer. Developers and integrators can route verified trading volume through Decibel and earn fee shares. Design concentrates liquidity around a single execution engine.

Brylee Whatley, Head of Decibel Foundation, said traditional trading infrastructure often operated as a black box. According to Whatley, Decibel was built to replace opaque systems with verifiable onchain execution and transparent economics.

Meanwhile, the team plans to add spot markets, unified accounts, and support for multiple types of collateral. It also aims to introduce tokenized real-world assets, along with equity indices and FX products. Over time, the goal is to build one exchange system that can settle both digital and traditional assets fully onchain.