14 Perp DEX Panorama Comparison: Who Will Be the Next Hyperliquid?

Author: Viee, Core Contributor of Biteye

We systematically compare the top Perp DEXs by trading volume on Defillama across six dimensions: features, participation methods, capital systems, etc. Projects are graded by popularity as S+, S, and A, allowing for a quick grasp of each project's core strategies.

01 Overview

The Binance camp (Aster, StandX), Amber camp (edgeX), Paradigm camp (Paradex), Solana camp (BULK/Backpack/Jupiter/Drift), Base camp (Avantis)… each has its own territory.

Hyperliquid remains the leader, but new players are using points and APY to share the market.

For retail investors: Projects that have not yet had their TGE can be interacted with to earn points, while projects that have had their TGE need to be evaluated based on market cap and trends, ideally buying on the right side.

02 Popularity S+ Level

1.@HyperliquidX, $HYPER

Feature: Hyperliquid is undoubtedly the current leader in Perp DEXs, with self-developed L1 + full-chain CLOB, leading in liquidity and trading depth. For example, HyperEVM supports transaction delays of less than 1 second and top-tier depth.

Participation Opportunity: The Hyperliquid team airdropped about 31% of HYPE to early users, making it one of the largest airdrops in history. More importantly, nearly 40% of the supply is reserved for future community rewards. Users who missed the first round of airdrops can consider increasing trading volume, staking liquidity, and other methods to strive for subsequent opportunities.

2.@Aster_DEX, $ASTER

Feature: Aster is the Perp DEX strongly promoted by the Binance camp, with the price of $ASTER skyrocketing 20 times in its first week. The platform features easy one-click/grid trading with up to 1001x leverage, serving as a traffic entry point for the BNB chain.

Participation Opportunity: The main opportunity currently lies in trading, with a second round of airdrops available through trading competitions.

3.@Backpack, not yet TGE

Feature: Backpack emphasizes compliance and security, introducing KYC mechanisms to ensure user authenticity, resembling the operational style of CeFi exchanges.

Participation Opportunity: The trading points program rewards active users, and it is said that after the launch of the third season, the weight of trading volume will increase.

4.@edgeX_exchange, not yet TGE

Feature: edgeX is incubated by Amber Group and utilizes StarkEx ZK-Rollup technology. edgeX also provides a carefully crafted user experience: integrating MPC wallets to lower the threshold for private key management, approaching the experience of CEX platforms.

Participation Opportunity: Trading, with weekly point weight = trading volume + activity, and a minimum of 10U to participate.

5.@Lighter_xyz, not yet TGE

Feature: Lighter is currently in an invite-only private testing phase, building a dedicated network compatible with EVM (based on Starknet), ensuring both privacy and high efficiency at low costs. The APY for the LLP market-making treasury is also relatively high, around 63%. Note that the APY requires a certain amount of points to be fully unlocked.

Participation Opportunity: A points reward program has been launched for invited users, with points accumulated for each transaction, which will relate to future airdrops.

6.@avantisfi, $AVNT

Feature: Offers up to 500x leverage, supporting diverse market trading including cryptocurrencies, forex, gold, and crude oil.

Participation Opportunity: Users holding AVNT can share platform profits by staking tokens, with annualized returns of around 23%.

03 Popularity S Level

7.@tradeparadex, not yet TGE

Feature: Paradex is built on Ethereum Layer 2 Starknet, implementing a mechanism that unifies perpetual contracts, perpetual options, and spot accounts. Paradex also adopts a zero-fee strategy to encourage trading volume growth.

Participation Opportunity: XP quarterly system, with points for holding positions, trading, and market making.

8.@OrderlyNetwork, $ORDER

Feature: Builds high-performance order book infrastructure, integrated by numerous wallets and DEXs, becoming a "back-end matching engine" for easy front-end setup.

Participation Opportunity: Holding ORDER for staking can earn trading fee dividends, achieving passive income similar to dividends.

9.@BasedOneX, not yet TGE

Feature: Equivalent to the front end of Hyperliquid, a dealer model, building an omnichannel trading platform for Hyperliquid.

Participation Opportunity: Ecological airdrops and trading competitions.

10.@StandX_Official, not yet TGE

Feature: Developed by core members of the former Binance futures team, has launched the DUSD auto-yield stablecoin, providing yield-bearing margin for "trading while mining." Currently, the PerpDex function is in internal testing, and the platform operates with its own funds without relying on VC.

Participation Opportunity: The PerpDex function is in internal testing, and applications can be made to join the waitlist. There is currently a pre-deposit activity.

11.@_bulktrade, not yet TGE

Feature: Native to Solana, with extreme matching speed. BULK embeds the matching engine into validator nodes, allowing user orders to bypass the ordinary "transaction queue" of Solana and directly enter the Bulk-Tile module built into the validator nodes. This allows matching to be completed within 20ms and confirmation within 40ms.

Participation Opportunity: The mainnet is not yet online, but interactions can currently be conducted on the testnet.

04 Popularity A Level

12.@reya_xyz, not yet TGE

Feature: Modular derivatives and margin engine logic, allowing users to have a margin account that can be used across multiple exchanges.

Participation Opportunity: A points system rewards users for trading and staking USDC, with weekly ranking settlements.

13.@DriftProtocol, $DRIFT

Feature: Drift is one of the earliest perpetual contract DEXs on Solana, introducing yield-bearing margin, allowing users' collateral assets to earn interest while serving as margin.

Participation Opportunity: Future participation opportunities mainly lie in staking tokens and governance, and users can also utilize the platform treasury function, with annualized returns ranging from 20% to 50%.

14.@JupiterExchange, $JUP

Feature: Previously the largest DEX aggregator on Solana, with business expansion, Jupiter has now launched perpetual contracts in GMX mode and introduced liquidity pools similar to GLP, allowing for spot exchanges and perpetual trading on one platform.

Participation Opportunity: Future airdrops will continue to be allocated based on user trading and interaction activities on the Jupiter platform.