CEX vs DEX: Perpetual Trading on Decentralized Exchanges Reaches New Highs in August 2025

Perpetual futures trading on decentralized platforms strengthened its position against centralized competitors during August 2025, with the market share ratio advancing to 8.34% from July's 7.53%, based on The Block's data.

August witnessed a substantial recovery in centralized exchange spot volumes, which reached $1.86 trillion, the strongest monthly performance year-to-date since January. Decentralized spot trading maintained its upward trajectory as well, with its share relative to centralized platforms edging up to 17.2% from the prior month's 16.55%.

Hyperliquid distinguished itself as a dominant force within decentralized derivatives markets, processing more than $2.6 trillion in perpetual contract volume through on-chain activity. According to Dune Analytics data, the platform collected $115 million in trading fees throughout August 2025, generating $107 million in net revenue for the period. These monthly earnings contributed to Hyperliquid's aggregate revenue total of $507 million since launch.

Perpetual Futures: Hyperliquid's Challenge to Binance's Dominance

Binance has dominated perpetual trading volumes throughout the past year, significantly outpacing Hyperliquid in absolute terms. However, Hyperliquid has demonstrated consistent growth momentum, particularly accelerating from late 2024. The platform's market share relative to Binance began its upward trajectory in November 2024 and has continued climbing, ultimately exceeding 15% by August 2025.

This competition between individual platforms signals a larger transformation across the cryptocurrency trading landscape. Decentralized futures exchanges have been gradually taking market share away from their centralized counterparts. Following a trough just above 3% in October 2024, the proportion of DEX futures trading relative to CEX volumes has rebounded sharply and sustained its upward momentum, climbing to roughly 8.5% by August 2025, representing the peak level observed throughout this period.

Hyperliquid has maintained a clear lead in perpetual protocol trading, accounting for the largest share of both market share and absolute volume over the past year. Its dominance strengthened particularly from early 2025, where it consistently represented the majority of activity. In August 2025, the total perpetual protocol trade volume reached $514.44 billion, with Hyperliquid contributing $398.14 billion, which accounts for approximately 77.4% of the total.

Spot Market: CEX Volumes Recover After Mid-Year Slump While DEX Share Continues Rising

Centralized exchange spot trading volumes peaked in December 2024 at nearly $3 trillion before declining steadily through early 2025. The market reached its lowest point in June 2025 at around $1.07 trillion, a nine-month low. By August 2025, trading activity had rebounded to $1.86 trillion, marking the strongest monthly performance since the start of the year. Throughout this entire cycle, Binance retained its leading position among centralized spot trading platforms.

Decentralized exchanges continued gaining ground during this period. DEX spot trading captured 17.2% of total market volume in August 2025, up from 16.55% in July. This incremental but consistent growth reflects an ongoing shift as traders increasingly adopt decentralized trading platforms.

Looking Ahead

These trends highlight a cryptocurrency market in transition, where traditional centralized exchanges face growing competition from decentralized alternatives across both spot and derivatives trading. While CEXs continue to dominate in absolute volume terms, the consistent growth in DEX market share, particularly Hyperliquid's rise in perpetual futures, suggests that decentralized trading infrastructure is maturing and gaining trader confidence.