Perpetual futures open interest on decentralized exchanges climbed to approximately $20.9 billion in mid-to-late August 2026, up from $14.8 billion at the start of the month, with billions in new leveraged positions opened in just weeks. Trading volumes on these same platforms fell roughly 34 percent over the past six months despite the surge in open interest. Hyperliquid dominates the sector with $12.25 to $13.22 billion in open interest, commanding over half the entire market. Perp DEX market share rose from approximately 3.6 percent earlier in 2026 to over 13.5 percent by April 2026, reaching a level that centralized exchanges can no longer dismiss.
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