Hyperliquid Leads Perp DEX Investment Despite Market Share Loss

A new thesis from DeFi analyst Patrick Scott argues that despite losing market share to rivals, Hyperliquid remains the most investable decentralized exchange for perpetual futures.

Perpetual futures, known as perps, are crypto derivatives that allow traders to speculate on prices without an expiry date. The decentralized platforms that host them, called perp DEXes, have surged in popularity as traders move activity away from centralized exchanges such as Binance. Scott noted that perp DEXes have expanded from less than 2% of centralized exchange perpetual trading volume in 2022 to more than 20% last month. Hyperliquid, which issues the HYPE token, has been a key driver of that growth.

Recent shifts have raised questions about Hyperliquid’s dominance. The platform’s share of perp DEX volume fell from 45% to just 8% in recent weeks, while Binance-affiliated rival Aster ballooned to more than $270 billion in weekly trades. Other upstarts such as Lighter and edgeX also posted triple-digit percentage gains in activity.

Scott argued that Hyperliquid’s fundamentals set it apart from competitors. The exchange continues to generate strong revenue and trades at what he described as a reasonable multiple compared to peers, with user stickiness reflected in open interest. Unlike volume and revenue, which measure activity, open interest measures liquidity and is much stickier, Scott wrote, noting Hyperliquid still commands about 62% of the perp DEX open interest market.

Автор Benjamin Redfern

I was born in 1979 in Dunedin, New Zealand, where cold mornings, steep streets, and strong opinions about rugby were part of ordinary life. I use Benjamin Redfern as my public name. My private identity remains known only to close family and long-standing friends.