ASTER's surge ignites the sector; which unlaunched perp DEX projects are worth tracking?

Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher

Recently, ASTER surged upon its launch and quickly listed on multiple exchanges, with whales and KOLs frequently entering the market, leading to a simultaneous rise in sentiment and trading volume. Amid this heightened interest, the market has once again turned its attention to the perp DEX track.

At the same time, Sun Yuchen's TRON ecosystem launched a native perpetual contract platform; OKX's CEO stated that X Layer would provide its own answer regarding On-chain Perps; and the decentralized derivatives protocol Synthetix announced that it would soon launch a Perp DEX on the Ethereum mainnet. These actions are seen as signals of accelerated competition in the sector.

Against this backdrop, the author has selected some noteworthy unlaunched perp projects based on the influence/popularity rankings from RootData, combined with the on-chain perpetual contract trading leaderboard from Defillama.

1. Order Book Type (CLOB) / Performance Wins

Lighter ｜On-chain Reconcilable High-Speed Perpetuals

Lighter is a decentralized perpetual contract exchange operating on Ethereum Layer 2, allowing users to deposit USDC to go long or short on-chain, with an operation style similar to centralized exchanges. The difference is that it processes key steps such as order placement, execution, and liquidation within its own matching system, with results synchronized to the blockchain for traceability. If issues arise, users can verify against the recorded history, reducing black-box space. The platform is currently in a private testing invitation phase, offering contracts for BTC, ETH, etc., with funding rates settled hourly and no fees for placing or taking orders at this time. Additionally, the platform supports a public liquidity pool, allowing funds to be entrusted to a pool manager for trading and profit sharing.

The official website shows that its investors include a16z and Lightspeed, with ZK Security and Nethermind as auditing partners. The official announcement in September stated that its TVL has surpassed $500 million, and private testing is nearing completion.

edgeX ｜CEX-Level Matching Experience on an On-chain Exchange

edgeX is a decentralized order book perpetual contract DEX that supports trading directly via web and iOS/Android. The official claim is that it can provide over $10 million in depth within a 1 basis point spread, with a matching engine capable of handling over 200,000 transactions per second and matching latency of <10ms; users retain self-custody of their assets, allowing for fund withdrawals at any time without platform permission. Mechanically, edgeX V1 is supported by the StarkEx Layer 2 engine, which has processed over $12.8 trillion in cumulative trading volume since 2020; edgeX uses independent oracle providers to obtain reference prices, preventing price manipulation.

Moreover, the platform charges fees based on trading volume over the past 30 days and covers gas fees for V1 settlements; it also distributes points weekly based on trading volume, open interest, feature usage frequency, and referral contributions. In addition to perp, the project is advancing spot trading and eStrategy strategy vaults (with options for different risk-return curves).

From the perspective of financing and endorsements, Amber Group, SNZ, and others have provided approximately $10 million in liquidity to edgeX Labs. Data-wise, the recent 24-hour trading volume is about $3.9 billion, with open interest around $986 million.

Vest Exchange ｜Low-Fee Multi-Market on Base

Vest Exchange is a decentralized order book perpetual contract exchange deployed on Base, using USDC as margin for accounts, currently offering over 40 markets covering crypto assets, some commodities, and synthetic forex; the platform does not artificially limit the total position that can be opened in a single market, with risk primarily adjusted through funding rates and margin ratios.

In terms of fees, both opening and closing positions incur a fee of 0.01%, with prices and funding rates dynamically priced by its zkRisk risk engine based on overall platform risk. The platform is currently conducting Season 1 points distribution, running from March 13, 2025, to September, with 1 million points distributed weekly, settled every Wednesday at 10:00 AM EST.

Public information shows that the project has received investments from Jane Street, Amber, Selini, QCP, BBH, IVC, among others, completing a seed round in January 2023 (amount undisclosed) and announcing a $5 million financing in March 2025. Data-wise, its total protocol TVL is about $7.19 million, with LP-side TVL around $6.33 million; cumulative trading volume is approximately $1.64 billion.

SunPerp ｜TRON's Native Perpetual Entry

SunPerp is a decentralized perpetual contract exchange launched by Sun Yuchen in the TRON ecosystem, officially positioned as the first native perpetual DEX on TRON. Data shows that the number of registrations exceeded 1,000 on the third day of its public testing, and subsequently, Sun Yuchen stated that the user count surpassed 3,000 without any new user acquisition efforts. The project's product roadmap emphasizes low fees and trading incentives such as deposit cashback, and it has launched deposit mining (with a maximum annualized return of 12%) and trading mining. Additionally, it allocates 100% of the protocol's revenue for repurchasing SUN (the governance token of the TRON ecosystem) and uses SUN as incentives and empowerment within the platform. Currently, users can go long or short using USDT by connecting their TRON wallet, with plans to expand to Ethereum and BSC in the future, complementing centralized and on-chain scenarios with HTX.

Valhalla ｜"Full-Chain Matching" on MegaETH

Valhalla is an on-chain perpetual contract exchange deployed in the MegaETH ecosystem, focusing on bringing the smooth speed of CEX to on-chain; while retaining composability, meaning funds remain in wallets and can be used alongside other DeFi. The project employs full on-chain matching and settlement, promising to reduce order slip and queue congestion in the low-latency environment of MegaETH. Additionally, to kickstart liquidity, it offers Start Vaults for market-making, allowing LPs to provide liquidity with one click and share in fees and market-making profits; currently, a waitlist and data preview are open. In December 2024, the project announced the completion of a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round, led by Robot Ventures, with participating institutions including GSR, Kronos, MitonC, Wincent, Hash3, BigBrain, and Sumcap.

2. Unified Margin / Stablecoin Native

Ethereal ｜USDe Universal Derivatives

Ethereal is a spot + perpetual contract DEX centered around Ethena's USDe, aiming to combine the smooth experience of CEX with on-chain self-custody. Its mechanism allows users to deposit USDe into Ethereal's pre-deposit vault to earn native USDe rewards and continuously accumulate points, meaning users only need to perform normal deposit and trading operations for their reward balance to grow in real-time. The official announcement states that it has entered Season One (divided into four cycles), with Season Zero attracting over 30,000 independent participants, all of whom will receive a 100% boost in Season Zero points (capped at the total points of Season Zero, effective at the end of the first cycle).

The main difference from other perps is its deep integration with Ethena, where unified margin provides a simpler settlement path and reward synergy. Currently, there is no public financing disclosure, but the team has submitted an integration proposal on the Ethena governance forum, positioning it as a native derivatives scenario for USDe. In terms of existing data, Nansen reported that as of March 2025, pre-deposits for Season 0 have exceeded $400 million; DefiLlama data shows its TVL is approximately $401 million, based on USDe locked in the pre-deposit vault.

StandX ｜Yield-Generating Margin with DUSD

StandX is a perpetual contract DEX that allows users to trade using yield-generating margin. StandX's first product is a yield-generating stablecoin, DUSD, with all contracts priced and settled in DUSD, supporting BNB Chain and Solana wallet integration. Data shows that approximately 62.39 million DUSD have been issued (market cap around $62.39 million), which can be redeemed for USDT/USDC at any time. The core team members come from the founding team of Binance Futures and Goldman Sachs.

3. Aggregation and Entry Layer

Vooi ｜One-Click Cross-Chain Perpetual Router

Vooi is a cross-chain perpetual contract aggregator DEX, essentially routing orders to multiple perp exchanges from a single interface, eliminating the need to switch chains, bridge assets, or prepare gas; the system simplifies these steps with a unified balance and one-click ordering, also usable on mobile and Telegram mini-programs. The platform has launched its V2 mainnet, aggregating protocols such as Orderly, KiloEx, SynFutures, Hyperliquid, Ostium, and supports over 200 spot and contract markets.

The project team disclosed that it received early investment from YZi Labs in August 2024, with public data showing that the platform's cumulative trading volume has surpassed $10 billion, with approximately 122,000 cumulative traders and monthly active users exceeding 10,000 in July and August.

Dexari ｜Bringing Hyperliquid to Mobile

Dexari is a decentralized perpetual contract trading application supported by Hyperliquid's order book, essentially bringing Hyperliquid's on-chain order book and depth to mobile use. It offers up to 50x leverage for assets like BTC and ETH, with order placement and execution handled by Hyperliquid's matching engine, featuring low fees and near real-time execution, and users can trade without KYC.

For ordinary traders, it provides a lightweight app to enjoy Hyperliquid's liquidity and professional features (conditional orders, take profit/stop loss, position and funding rate panels, etc.), while maintaining self-custody of assets; however, its liquidity and tradable varieties depend on Hyperliquid, making it more of a mobile entry rather than a fully independent DEX.

4. Chain-Level Solutions

Reya Network ｜Trading-Focused L2 with Built-in Reya DEX

Reya Network is not a conventional perp protocol but an Ethereum-based L2 aimed at trading scenarios, with its flagship application being the built-in Reya DEX. The trading side emphasizes gas-free transactions, no MEV, and FIFO queuing, currently covering about 65 markets. Users can connect their wallets and deposit USDC, with the system automatically converting it into rUSD as unified margin; those wishing to be LPs can stake rUSD as srUSD to earn rewards and points. Its points system is Reya Chain Points (RCP), which the official states will serve as the basis for future airdrop allocations.

The team is led by Simon Jones (whose previous project Voltz achieved over $30 billion in nominal trading volume within 12 months) and has received investments from Framework, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute, among others, including a $6 million seed round in December 2021; in March 2024, it secured another $10 million in financing. In terms of on-chain and operational data, as of the time of writing, L2BEAT shows Reya chain's secured custody scale (TVS) at approximately $16.64 million, while DefiLlama shows Reya DEX protocol's locked value (TVL) at approximately $26.72 million, with nearly $389 million in perp trading volume in the last 24 hours.

5. Comprehensive One-Stop / Hybrid Market Making

flyingtulip ｜One-Stop Platform for Spot + Contracts + Lending

flyingtulip is a one-stop on-chain trading platform that aggregates DeFi functions such as spot trading, perpetual contracts, lending, options, and structured returns. Its underlying structure is a hybrid market maker + order book, providing tighter spreads during stable markets and automatically tightening leverage and borrowing limits during increased volatility, with available borrowing limits dynamically adjusted based on real executable depth and current volatility, reducing the probability of passive liquidation during extreme market conditions.

Additionally, the platform has designed ftUSD, a USD-equivalent asset generated from delta-neutral positions, for liquidity and incentives, supporting multi-chain deposits and gas subsidies, aiming to tie CEX-level tools with on-chain settlement together.

The team is led by core developers behind Yearn, Keep3r, and ve33, with the official design of the platform token FT (but TGE has not yet been publicly disclosed), with investors and the foundation each holding half, and private fundraising enjoying redeemable protection clauses, with the protocol placing raised funds into strategy to generate returns, which are then used for token buybacks, incentives, and market making.

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