Crypto perpetual trading reached a record level in 2024, but the biggest change was not just the increase in volume. Competition among exchanges became more intense as decentralized platforms began taking a larger share of the market.
Data from CoinGecko reveals that the top 10 centralized perpetual exchanges processed $58.5 trillion in 2024, more than double the $28 trillion recorded in 2023. Fourth-quarter volume alone reached $21.2 trillion, up 79.6% from the previous quarter.
Binance remained the largest centralized venue, but its share fell from 43% in January to 34% in December. Coinbase International also entered the top 10 after its December volume increased more than fourfold.
Binance faced a different kind of competition
The decline in Binance’s market share did not mean that its derivatives business was shrinking. Rather, the market was expanding quickly enough for competitors to capture a larger portion of the growth.
That distinction matters because perpetual futures are one of crypto’s most important trading products. Unlike traditional futures, they do not expire, allowing traders to maintain leveraged positions indefinitely while paying or receiving funding rates.
The rise of decentralized perpetual exchanges introduced another competitive pressure. The top 10 perp DEXs recorded $1.5 trillion in 2024, up 138.1% from $647.6 billion in 2023. Hyperliquid accounted for more than 55% of DEX perp volume in Q4 and reached 66% in December, according to CoinGecko.
Hyperliquid’s growth also showed how incentives can change market structure. Its HYPE airdrop helped attract users and liquidity, but the platform’s longer-term challenge is retaining that activity after the initial incentive fades.
dYdX provides the other side of the story. Its share of perp DEX volume fell from 73% in January 2023 to 7% in December 2024. The decline suggests that early leadership in decentralized derivatives does not guarantee continued dominance as competitors improve their products and liquidity.
Also Read: Binance Set to Move User Assets From Funding Account to ‘Stocks Account’
The perp market kept moving toward a multi-platform model
Bitcoin remained the largest asset in centralized perpetuals, accounting for about 45% of open interest during 2024. But the market was becoming less concentrated across both assets and trading venues.
That trend has continued. CoinGecko’s 2026 research shows monthly perp volume increased 75% between January 2024 and January 2026, from $4.14 trillion to $7.24 trillion. DEXs also increased their share of perp volume roughly fivefold to 10%.
The competitive picture has therefore changed from a market dominated mainly by large centralized exchanges to one where centralized and decentralized venues compete for the same traders. Binance still processes substantial perpetual volume, while Hyperliquid has established itself as a major on-chain derivatives venue.
The bigger story behind Binance’s declining share is therefore market fragmentation. More traders are willing to move between centralized and decentralized venues based on liquidity, fees, available assets, incentives and trading infrastructure.
The 2024 numbers marked an important point in that transition. Perpetuals were no longer simply a product dominated by a few centralized exchanges. They were becoming a competitive market in their own right.
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