Author: Stacy Muur; Translator: Shan Oppa, Jinse Finance
For most of the past year, Hyperliquid held the top spot—but its market share has now plummeted to just 20%, with new challengers vying for market share. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of the four major decentralized exchanges offering perpetual contracts.
In 2025, the decentralized perpetual contract (perp DEX) market experienced explosive growth. In October 2025, the monthly trading volume of perpetual contract decentralized exchanges exceeded $1.2 trillion for the first time, attracting widespread attention from retail traders, institutional investors, and venture capitalists.
For most of the past year, Hyperliquid held absolute dominance, with its on-chain perpetual contract transaction volume peaking at 71% in May. However, by November, with the entry of new challengers, its market share had plummeted to just 20%.
Lighter: 27.7%
Aster: 19.3%
EdgeX: 14.6%
Thus, in this rapidly iterating ecosystem, four dominant platforms have emerged and are vying for industry dominance:
Hyperliquid – The veteran king of on-chain perpetual contracts
Aster – A rocket-like platform with astonishing trading volume but constant controversy.
Lighter – A native disruptor with zero transaction fees and zero knowledge proofs.
EdgeX – A low-key, pragmatic dark horse that perfectly meets the needs of institutions.
This in-depth investigation will cut through the fog of market hype and analyze the technical architecture, core data, points of contention, and long-term feasibility of each platform.
Part 1: Hyperliquid – The Undisputed King
Why Hyperliquid has achieved dominance
Hyperliquid has established itself as the industry-leading decentralized perpetual contract exchange, with a market share exceeding 71% at its peak. Although competitors have temporarily grabbed headlines with explosive growth in trading volume, Hyperliquid remains a structural pillar of the decentralized perpetual contract exchange ecosystem.
Technical foundation
Hyperliquid's dominance stems from a revolutionary architectural decision: to create a Layer 1 blockchain specifically designed for derivatives trading. The platform's HyperBFT consensus mechanism enables sub-second order finality, and its transaction throughput (TPS) of 200,000 transactions per second rivals, and often surpasses, centralized exchanges.
Verification of the authenticity of open contracts
Competitors often publish eye-catching 24-hour trading volume data, but the real indicator that reflects actual capital deployment is open interest (OI) – the total value of unsettled perpetual contracts.
Trading volume reflects market activity, while open interest reflects the level of capital commitment.
According to 21Shares data, September 2025:
Aster accounts for approximately 70% of the total trading volume.
Hyperliquid has temporarily dropped to around 10%.
However, this dominance is only reflected in trading volume, which is the most easily distorted indicator through incentives, rebates, frequent trading by market makers, or wash trading.
Latest 24-hour open interest data shows:
Hyperliquid: $8.014 billion
Aster: $2.329 billion
Lighter: $1.591 billion
EdgeX: $780.41 million
Total open interest across the four major platforms: US$12.714 billion
Hyperliquid's market share: approximately 63%
This means that among mainstream perpetual contract trading platforms, Hyperliquid holds nearly two-thirds of the open positions, exceeding the combined total of Aster, Lighter, and EdgeX.
24-hour open interest market share:
Hyperliquid: 63.0%
Aster: 18.3%
Lighter: 12.5%
EdgeX: 6.1%
This indicator reflects the amount of money traders are willing to hold overnight, rather than simply the flow of funds for incentives or frequent trading.
Key Ratio Analysis
Hyperliquid: A high open interest/volume ratio (approximately 0.64) indicates that a large volume of trading activity translates into active, sustained open interest.
Aster and Lighter: The low ratios (approximately 0.18 and 0.12 respectively) indicate high trading turnover but low actual open interest, which is typically characteristic of incentive-driven trading rather than sustainable liquidity.
Panoramic Summary
24-hour trading volume: reflects short-term activity.
24-hour open interest: reflects the amount of capital invested in risk management.
24-hour open interest/volume ratio: reflects the authenticity of trading (rather than incentive-driven).
Based on all metrics based on open interest, Hyperliquid is the structural leader:
Largest open interest
The committed funds account for the highest proportion
The healthiest open interest/volume ratio is...
The size of open contracts exceeded the sum of the three major platforms.
Trading volume rankings fluctuate, but open interest reveals the true market leader – that is Hyperliquid.
Having withstood the test
In the October 2025 liquidation event, $19 billion in positions were liquidated, and Hyperliquid maintained zero-failure operation while handling massive peak trading volumes.
Institutional accreditation
21Shares has submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for Hyperliquid (HYPE) related products and has already listed a regulated HYPE exchange-traded product (ETP) on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX). These developments, reported by market data platforms such as CoinMarketCap, signify increasing institutional access to HYPE. The HyperEVM ecosystem is also expanding, although publicly available data cannot confirm the specific figures of over 180 projects or a total value locked (TVL) of $4.1 billion.
in conclusion
Based on current regulatory applications, exchange listings, and ecosystem growth reported by platforms such as CoinMarketCap, Hyperliquid is gaining strong momentum and institutional recognition, solidifying its position as a leading DeFi derivatives platform.
Part Two: Aster – Explosive Growth and Scandals
Aster is a multi-chain perpetual contract exchange that launched in early 2025. Its core objective is to provide users of the BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Solana ecosystems with high-speed, high-leverage derivatives trading services without the need for cross-chain asset transfers.
This project was not built from scratch, but rather originated from the merger of Asterus and APX Finance at the end of 2024, integrating APX's mature perpetual contract engine with Asterus' liquidity technology.
Explosive rise
Aster launched on September 17, 2025, at a price of $0.08, and surged to $2.42 within a week, an increase of 2800%. At its peak, its daily trading volume exceeded $70 billion, dominating the entire decentralized exchange market for perpetual contracts.
What was the driving force behind this surge? CZ(CZ). The Binance founder supported Aster through YZi Labs and tweeted about it, driving up its token price. In its first month, Aster's trading volume exceeded $320 billion, briefly capturing over 50% of the perpetual contract decentralized exchange market share.
DefiLlama removal incident
On October 5, 2025, DefiLlama, the most trusted data platform in the cryptocurrency field, discovered that Aster's trading volume almost perfectly matched Binance's trading volume—with a correlation of 1:1—and subsequently removed Aster's data from its platform.
Trading volumes on real exchanges fluctuate naturally; a perfect match only means one thing: data fraud.
Key evidence
The trading volume model is completely consistent with Binance (all trading pairs including Ripple and Ethereum).
Aster refused to provide transaction data to verify the authenticity of the transactions.
96% of ASTER tokens are controlled by only 6 wallets.
The volume-to-open-ended ratio is above 58 (a healthy level should be below 3).
ASTER tokens subsequently plummeted 10%, from $2.42 to around $1.05 currently.
Aster's defense
CEO Leonard claims that this correlation is simply due to airdrop arbitrageurs hedging on Binance. But if this is true, why refuse to provide data to prove it?
Weeks later, Aster was relisted, but DefiLlama warned that it was still a black box and the authenticity of the data could not be verified.
Real value
To be fair, Aster possesses some genuine features: 1001x leverage, hidden orders, multi-chain support (BNB, Ethereum, Solana), and interest-bearing collateral. It is building the Aster Chain based on zero-knowledge proof technology for privacy protection. However, excellent technology cannot compensate for the flaws in its data.
in conclusion
The evidence is conclusive:
Full correlation with Binance = wash trades
Refusing transparency = concealing problems
96% of tokens are concentrated in 6 wallets = centralized control
DefiLlama being removed from app stores = complete loss of reputation
Aster capitalized on the hype surrounding CZ(CZ) and inflated trading volumes to gain enormous value, but failed to build genuine infrastructure. While it may survive thanks to Binance's support, its reputation has suffered permanent damage.
For traders: High risk. You are betting on CZ(CZ) narrative, not real growth. Set strict stop-loss orders.
For investors: Avoid. There are too many red flags; better options exist (such as Hyperliquid).
Part Three: Lighter – A promising technology, but questionable data.
Technological advantages
Lighter is different. Founded by former Citadel engineers and backed by Peter Thiel, a16z, and Lightspeed (which raised $68 million in a $1.5 billion Series B funding round), it uses zero-knowledge proofs to cryptographically verify every transaction.
As a Layer 2 (L2) network of Ethereum, Lighter inherits Ethereum's security through escape channels—users can recover their funds via smart contracts should the platform fail. Application-chain-type L1 networks do not offer this level of security.
Launched on October 2, 2025, the total value locked (TVL) exceeded $1.1 billion within weeks, with daily trading volume reaching $7-8 billion and over 56,000 users.
Zero commission = aggressive strategy
Lighter charges 0% commission for both pending orders and takers, a truly zero-commission policy. This makes it uncompetitive for commission-sensitive traders.
Their strategy is simple: seize market share through an unsustainable economic model, build user loyalty, and then realize profits.
Test on October 11
Ten days after the mainnet launch, the largest liquidation event in the cryptocurrency field occurred, with $19 billion in holdings being liquidated.
Highlight: The system withstood 5 hours of market turmoil, and the Liquidity Provider Pool (LLP) continued to provide liquidity even as competitors withdrew.
Drawback: The database crashed after 5 hours, and the platform was offline for 4 hours.
Issue: Liquidity Provider Pools (LLPs) are incurring losses, while Hyperliquid's HLPs and EdgeX's eLPs are both profitable.
Founder Vlad Novakovski stated that they had originally planned to upgrade the database on Sunday, but Friday's market volatility caused the old system to crash ahead of schedule.
Trading volume issues
The data clearly shows the existence of points-based mining behavior:
24-hour trading volume: $12.78 billion
Open interest: $1.591 billion
Trading volume/open interest ratio: 8.03
Health level = below 3, above 5 = suspicious, 8.03 = extremely abnormal.
Comparison and reference:
Hyperliquid: 1.57 (Natural Trade)
EdgeX: 2.7 (mild level)
Aster: 5.4 (Worrying)
Lighter: 8.03 (Mining Activity)
For every $1 of capital a trader deploys, $8 of trading volume is generated – frequent closing of positions to mine tokens, rather than holding actual positions.
30-day data confirms that the ratio of $294 billion in trading volume to $47 billion in cumulative open interest (6.25) is still far above a reasonable level.
Airdrop Questions
Lighter's points program is highly attractive. Points will be redeemed for LITER tokens during the token generation event (TGE, Q4 2025 / Q1 2026). Points are priced at $5-$100+ on the over-the-counter (OTC) market. With a potential airdrop value of tens of thousands of dollars, explosive trading volume is logical.
Key question: What will happen after TGE? Will users remain or will transaction volume collapse?
in conclusion
Advantages:
Cutting-edge technology (zero-knowledge proof verification is valid)
Zero transaction fees = a true competitive advantage
Inheriting Ethereum's security
Top-tier team and funding support
Concerns:
A trading volume of 8.03 / open interest ratio indicates significant mining activity.
Liquidity Provider Pool (LLP) Losses During Stress Testing
4 hours of offline time raises questions of trust
User retention after airdrop has not been verified.
The key difference from Aster: no allegations of wash trading, and it wasn't delisted from DefiLlama. The high percentage reflects aggressive but temporary incentives, not systemic fraud.
Summarize
Lighter possesses world-class technology, but its data metrics are worrying. Can it convert mining users into real users? Technically feasible, historical experience suggests it's highly unlikely.
For miners: A good opportunity before TGE.
For investors: Observe whether the trading volume can be sustained 2-3 months after TGE.
possibility
There is a 40% chance of it becoming one of the top three platforms, and a 60% chance of it becoming a technically excellent but lacking real users points mining project.
Part Four: EdgeX – An Institutional Professional Platform
Amber Group Advantages
EdgeX's operating model is unique. Originating from the Amber Group incubator (managing $5 billion in assets), it brings together professionals from Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Bybit. This is not about crypto natives learning financial knowledge, but rather traditional finance professionals bringing institutional-level expertise to decentralized finance.
Amber 's market-making DNA is directly reflected in EdgeX: deep liquidity, narrow bid-ask spreads, and trade execution quality comparable to centralized exchanges. Launched in September 2024, the platform's core objective is to provide CEX-level performance without sacrificing its self-custodial advantages.
Built on StarkEx (StarkWare's battle-tested zero-knowledge proof engine), EdgeX can process 200,000 orders per second with a latency of less than 10 milliseconds, comparable to Binance's speed.
Lower transaction fees than Hyperliquid
EdgeX outperforms Hyperliquid across the board in terms of transaction fees:
Fee Comparison:
EdgeX's order processing fee: 0.038% vs Hyperliquid: 0.045%
EdgeX order placement fee: 0.012% vs Hyperliquid: 0.015%
For traders with a monthly trading volume of $10 million, this could save them $7,000-$10,000 annually compared to Hyperliquid.
In addition, EdgeX offers better liquidity for retail orders (below $6 million) – narrower spreads and lower slippage than its competitors.
Real income, health indicators
Unlike Lighter's zero-fee model or Aster's questionable data, EdgeX generates real, sustainable revenue:
Current key metrics:
Total Value Locked (TVL): $489.7 million
24-hour trading volume: $8.2 billion
Open interest: $780 million
30-day revenue: $41.72 million (147% increase from Q2)
Annualized revenue: $509 million (second only to Hyperliquid)
Trading volume/open interest ratio: 10.51 (seems worrying, but requires further analysis)
At first glance, a ratio of 10.51 seems terrible, but the context is crucial: EdgeX launched an aggressive points program to kickstart liquidity in its early days. As the platform matured, the ratio has steadily improved.
More importantly, EdgeX has consistently maintained a healthy revenue level—proving that there are real traders, not just mining users.
October stress test performance
EdgeX performed exceptionally well during the crash on October 11th (when $19 billion in positions were liquidated):
Zero failures (Lighter offline for 4 hours)
The eLP pool remains profitable (Lighter's LLP is losing money).
Liquidity providers have an annualized yield (APY) of 57% (the highest in the industry).
EdgeX Liquidity Pools (eLPs) demonstrated exceptional risk management capabilities at critical moments, generating profits amidst extreme volatility, while competitors struggled.
EdgeX's Differentiated Advantages
Multi-chain flexibility:
Supports Ethereum Layer 1 (L1) networks, Arbitrum, and Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain).
USDT and USDC are supported as collateral.
Cross-chain deposits and withdrawals are supported (Hyperliquid only supports Arbitrum).
Best mobile experience : Official iOS and Android apps are available (Hyperliquid has no mobile app), allowing users to easily manage their holdings anytime, anywhere with a simple and smooth user experience.
Focusing on the Asian market: Strategically expanding into the Korean and Asian markets through localized support and events such as Korea Blockchain Week. While Western competitors vie for similar users, this strategy aims to capture underserved regional markets.
Transparent points program
60% of trading volume
20% Referral Bonus
10% Total Value Locked (TVL) / Liquidity Pool
10% liquidation/open contracts
Clearly stated: There will be no incentives for wash trading.
The data also confirms this – the trading volume/open interest ratio continues to improve, rather than deteriorating as it has in pure mining projects.
Challenges
Market share: Only 5.5% of open interest on perpetual contract decentralized exchanges. To achieve growth, either aggressive incentives (with mining risks) or significant partnerships are needed.
Lacking killer features: The EdgeX performs well across the board but lacks any standout features. It's a business class option, generally reliable but lacking revolutionary breakthroughs.
Insufficient fee competitiveness: Lighter's zero-fee model weakens EdgeX's fee advantage over Hyperliquid.
TGE is late to the game: it is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2025, later than its competitors, and has missed the first-mover advantage.
in conclusion
EdgeX is the choice of professionals – solid excellence instead of flashy hype.
Advantages:
Institutional background (liquidity provided by Amber Group)
Real revenue ($509 million annualized)
Optimal return on investment pool (57% annualized return, profit during market crash)
Lower transaction fees than Hyperliquid
Data compliance (no wash trading scandals)
Multi-chain flexibility + Best mobile applications
Small market share (5.5% of open contracts)
The trading volume to open interest ratio is 10.51 (improving but still relatively high).
No unique differentiating highlights
Unable to compete with zero-fee platforms
Suitable for
Asian traders seeking localized support
Institutional users who value Amber Group's liquidity
Conservative traders with mature risk management skills will be given priority.
Mobile-first traders
Liquidity providers seeking stable returns
Summarize
EdgeX is poised to capture 10-15% market share, serving the Asian market, institutional users, and conservative traders. While it won't threaten Hyperliquid's dominance, it doesn't need to—it's building a sustainable and profitable niche.
It can be seen as "Kraken among decentralized exchanges for perpetual contracts"—not the largest or most dazzling, but stable and professional, trusted by experienced users who value the quality of trade execution rather than hype.
For miners: Opportunities are moderate, and competition is less intense than on other platforms.
For investors: Small allocations can be made to diversify risk; low risk corresponds to low returns.
Comparative Analysis: The Battle of Decentralized Exchanges for Perpetual Contracts
(Data is estimated based on existing data)
Analysis of the trading volume/open interest ratio
Industry standard: Health ratio ≤ 3
Hyperliquid: 1.57 indicates the existence of a strong natural trading pattern.
Aster: 4.74 is relatively high, reflecting a large number of incentive-driven transactions.
Lighter: 8.19 High ratio suggests points-driven trading
EdgeX: The points program in version 10.51 has a significant impact, but is gradually improving.
Market share: Distribution of open interest
Total market capitalization: Approximately US$13 billion in open interest
Hyperliquid: 62% - Market Leader
Aster: 18% - Second largest share
Lighter: 12% - Market presence continues to improve
EdgeX: 6% - Focusing on niche markets
Platform Overview
Hyperliquid - Mature Leaders
With stable data, it holds a 62% market share.
With annualized revenue of $2.9 billion, it has an active share buyback program.
The community-driven model has a good track record.
Advantages: Market dominance, sustainable economic model
Rating: A+
Aster - High growth, high controversy
Binance Smart Chain has strong ecosystem integration capabilities and is supported by CZ(CZ).
In October 2025, DefiLlama questioned its data.
Multi-chain strategy promotes application adoption
Advantages: Ecosystem support, wide coverage of individual investors.
Attention should be paid to: Data transparency issues
Rating: C+
Lighter - Tech Pioneer
Zero-fee model, advanced zero-knowledge proof verification technology
Top-tier funding (Thill, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners)
TGE anticipates limited performance data in the first quarter of 2026.
Advantages: Technological innovation, Ethereum Layer 2 network security
Key considerations: Business model sustainability, user retention after airdrop.
Rating: Not yet completed (performance pending token generation event)
EdgeX - Institution-Focused
Backed by Amber Group, professional-grade transaction execution capabilities
Annualized revenue of $509 million, with stable performance of the fund pool.
Asian Market Strategy, Mobile-First Deployment
Advantages: Institutional credibility, steady growth
Points to note: Small market share, competitive positioning
Rating: B
Investment considerations
Trading platform selection
Hyperliquid - Deepest liquidity, proven reliability in real-world applications.
Lighter - Zero transaction fees, suitable for high-frequency traders
EdgeX - Lower fees than Hyperliquid, excellent mobile experience.
Aster - Multi-chain flexibility, Binance Smart Chain ecosystem integration advantages
Token Investment Timeline
HYPE - Now available for trading, current price $37.19
ASTER - Current trading price: $1.05. Continue to monitor price movements.
LITER - Token Generation Event (TGE) is expected in Q1 2026, subject to evaluation of post-launch data.
EGX - Token Generation Event (TGE) is expected in Q4 2025; initial performance needs to be evaluated.
Key conclusions
Market maturity: The decentralized exchange industry for perpetual contracts has shown clear differentiation, with Hyperliquid establishing its dominance through sustainable data and community consensus.
Growth strategy: Each platform targets a different user group – Hyperliquid (professional traders), Aster (retail/Asian market), Lighter (technical users), and EdgeX (institutional users).
Key metrics: Compared to trading volume alone, the trading volume/open interest ratio and revenue generation capacity better reflect the platform's true performance.
Future Outlook: The performance of Lighter and EdgeX after their token generation events will play a crucial role in their long-term competitive positioning. Aster's future depends on its ability to address transparency issues and maintain ecosystem support.
