Reported by The Block: The trading volume metric serves as a proxy for relative dominance within the perp landscape, and Hyperliquid’s encroachment into Binance’s long-held dominance is becoming harder to ignore.
The following is excerpted from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.
Hyperliquid has recorded a new all-time high in monthly perpetual futures volume, facilitating over $248 billion in perp trading activity for May. This represents a 51.5% month-over-month increase compared to April’s $187.5 billion worth of volume.
For context, Hyperliquid facilitated just $26.3 billion in perp trading volume in May 2024, representing an 843% year-over-year increase. This explosive growth underscores the protocol’s position as the dominant player in the onchain perps vertical, having successfully blended CEX-grade performance with native crypto rails.
Further, the ratio between Hyperliquid and centralized exchange Binance's monthly perpetual volumes surged to a record high of 10.54%. This figure surpasses April’s previous high of 9.76%, which marked a peak ratio at the time.
The metric serves as a proxy for relative dominance within the overall perp landscape, and Hyperliquid’s encroachment into Binance’s long-held dominance is becoming harder to ignore. The main drivers behind Hyperliquid's rising momentum against Binance are Hyperliquid’s UX, which rivals CEX functionality while mitigating custodial risks, as well as its Season 2 points campaign, which lured in traders following a highly successful and lucrative Season 1 airdrop.
These dynamics have also buoyed the ratio of total DEX to CEX futures volume, which has hovered near record highs for the past several months. For May, the metric printed 6.84%, marginally below its all-time high of 7.06% in February. Year-to-date, this figure has averaged 6.7%, establishing a new baseline far above historical norms.
In 2022, DEX futures captured under 2% of global perp flow. This figure more than doubled to a high of 5.19% in mid-2024, and has since kept steadily above 6.8% in 2025. If this trend continues as DEX infrastructure keeps tightening spreads and integrating native stablecoin on-ramps, a double-digit share before the year ends seems plausible.
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