Hyperliquid dominates the perpetual contract DEX! After the competing platform's airdrop, trading volume dropped threefold back to normal

In the pursuit of high leverage and decentralized gaming, Hyperliquid is gradually becoming the sole choice for traders. This decentralized exchange focusing on perpetual contracts is pulling ahead of competitors; in contrast, platforms like Aster and Lighter, after the hype of airdrops subsided, are struggling to turn “short-term popularity” into “long-term trading volume.” According to CryptoRank and DefiLlama data, in the past 7 days, Hyperliquid’s perpetual contract trading volume reached as high as $40.7 billion, significantly surpassing Aster’s $31.7 billion and Lighter’s $25.3 billion.

However, the true key to victory lies in “Open Interest” — a core indicator of whether traders are willing to “stake risk” rather than simply “flash volume.” In the past 24 hours, Hyperliquid’s open interest in contracts reached $9.57 billion; in comparison, the combined DEXs including Aster, Lighter, Variational, edgeX, and Paradex totaled only about $7.34 billion. This asymmetry in data shows that Hyperliquid has become a real risk anchorage for traders, rather than just a transient platform chasing short-term rewards. This divergence has become even more apparent after reward-driven trading activity cooled down. Take Lighter as an example: before the airdrop in December last year, its trading volume surged rapidly; but as token distribution completed, market enthusiasm cooled quickly, and weekly trading volume shrank by nearly three times from December’s $600 million. This again confirms that once token rewards decrease or are redeemed, liquidity quickly retreats. This pattern has also raised concerns among industry leaders. Stephan Lutz, CEO of BitMEX, previously warned at the Token2049 summit that many perpetual contract DEXs rely excessively on reward mechanisms. Once rewards return to normal levels, it becomes difficult to retain liquidity. Stephan Lutz likened token incentives to “spending money on advertising”: capable of bringing short-term traffic spikes but not necessarily cultivating traders willing to bear risks long-term. However, even though Hyperliquid clearly outperforms in operational data, the HYPE token price has not benefited in tandem, reflecting the market’s ongoing doubts about DeFi protocols’ token issuance, value accumulation, and long-term economic viability.