The month of July 2025 saw Hyperliquid shatter every previous trading volume record, recording almost $320 billion in trades. That’s a 47 per cent increase from June’s 216 billion and a 28 per cent rise from the previous high of 248 billion in May. Impressive numbers that position the platform as the undisputed leader among decentralised exchanges (DEX) specialising in perpetual futures.
Despite the fact that the decentralised ecosystem is still maturing in comparison to the centralised giants, Hyperliquid maintained a market share of over 75% in DEX perps throughout July. Even more interesting is the figure for the Hyperliquid/Binance ratio, which rose to new highs of 11.89 per cent, a sign of the protocol’s increasing attractiveness compared to the absolute market dominator.
Meanwhile, competition on alternative blockchains also made itself felt. Drift, a Solana-based DEX of perps, recorded an impressive +336% month-on-month surge to $14.8 billion in volume. Underlying this spike was a very aggressive promotional campaign: zero commissions on the BTC-PERP market, launched at the end of June. A strategic move that demonstrated how incentives can still play a crucial role in attracting volumes.
However, despite these exploits, the overall ratio of DEX to CEX volumes remains static. In July, the DEX share stood at 7.77 per cent, virtually unchanged from 7.78 per cent in June. Although platforms such as Hyperliquid are clearly advancing, the dominance of centralised exchanges continues to be difficult to undermine.
Meanwhile, trading on assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum remains the driving force behind these soaring volumes, making the dynamics between DEX and CEX a multi-billion-dollar challenge. DeFi has flexed its muscles, but more than a monthly surge is needed to really corner the centralised giants. A revolution is needed.
