Recently, ASTER surged immediately upon listing and rapidly listed on multiple exchanges, with whales and KOLs frequently entering the market, driving up sentiment and trading volume. As the momentum spills over, the market has once again turned its attention to the perp DEX sector.

Meanwhile, Sun Yuchao’s TRON ecosystem launched a native perpetual contract platform; OKX CEO stated that X Layer will provide its own answer regarding On-chain Perps; decentralized derivatives protocol Synthetix also announced the upcoming launch of a Perp DEX on Ethereum mainnet—these moves are seen as signals of accelerating competition in the sector.

Against this backdrop, the author has screened several noteworthy pre-token perp projects based on RootData’s influence/visibility ranking and Defillama’s on-chain perpetual contract trading leaderboard.

I. Orderbook-Type (CLOB) / Performance-Driven

Lighter | High-Speed Perpetuals with On-Chain Verifiability

Lighter is a decentralized perpetual contract exchange operating on Ethereum Layer 2. Users can deposit USDC as margin to long or short positions directly on-chain, with operational experience closely resembling centralized exchanges. The key difference lies in Lighter’s unified matching system handling order submission, execution, and liquidation—results are then synchronized to the blockchain for immutable audit trails, enabling full replayability and reducing black-box risk. The platform is currently in private testing invitation phase, offering BTC, ETH, and other contracts. Funding rates are settled hourly, and both limit orders and market orders are fee-free at this stage. Additionally, the platform supports public liquidity pools, allowing users to entrust funds to pool managers for trading in exchange for revenue-sharing based on performance.

Official website lists investors including a16z and Lightspeed, with ZK Security and Nethermind as audit partners. In September, the team publicly confirmed TVL exceeding $500 million, with private testing nearing completion.

edgeX | On-Chain Exchange with CEX-Level Matching Experience

edgeX is a decentralized order book perpetual contract DEX supporting web and direct iOS/Android trading. The official claims it offers depth exceeding $10 million within a 1-basis-point spread, with a matching engine capable of processing over 200,000 transactions per second and sub-10ms latency. Users retain full custody of their assets, enabling instant withdrawal without platform approval. edgeX V1 is powered by StarkEx Layer 2 engine, which has processed over $1.28 trillion in cumulative volume since 2020. The platform employs independent oracle providers to obtain mark prices, mitigating price manipulation risks.

Transaction fees are tiered based on 30-day trading volume, with gas costs for V1 settlements covered by the platform. Weekly token rewards are distributed based on trading volume, open interest (OI), feature usage frequency, and referral contributions. Beyond perps, the project is advancing spot trading and eStrategy vaults (offering customizable risk-return profiles).

From funding and backing perspective, Amber Group and SNZ have provided approximately $10 million in liquidity support to edgeX Labs. Data shows recent 24-hour trading volume around $3.9 billion and open interest of approximately $986 million.

Vest Exchange | Low-Fee Multi-Market on Base

Vest Exchange is a decentralized order book perpetual contract DEX deployed on Base, using USDC as margin. It currently supports over 40 markets, covering crypto assets, select commodities, and synthetic forex. The platform imposes no artificial caps on total open positions per market; risk is managed through mechanisms such as funding rates and margin ratios.

Fees are set at 0.01% for both opening and closing positions. Prices and funding rates are dynamically priced across the entire platform via zkRisk risk engine. The platform is currently running Season 1, starting March 13, 2025, and lasting until September, distributing 1 million points weekly, with settlement every Wednesday at 10:00 AM EST.

Public information reveals investment from Jane Street, Amber, Selini, QCP, BBH, IVC, among others. A seed round was completed in January 2023 (amount undisclosed), followed by a $5 million raise in March 2025. Protocol-wide TVL stands at approximately $7.19 million, with LP-side TVL around $6.33 million; cumulative trading volume reaches ~$1.64 billion.

SunPerp | Native Perpetual Gateway on TRON

SunPerp is a decentralized perpetual contract exchange launched by Sun Yuchao within the TRON ecosystem, officially positioned as the first native perpetual DEX on TRON. Data shows registration surpassed 1,000 within the third day of public testing, and Sun later claimed user count exceeded 3,000 without dedicated acquisition efforts. The product roadmap emphasizes low fees and transaction incentives like deposit rebates. Features include deposit mining (up to 12% APY) and trading mining. The protocol allocates 100% of its revenue to SUN token buybacks (TRON’s governance token), using SUN as the primary incentive and empowerment mechanism within the platform. Currently, users can connect TRON wallets and trade long/short with USDT; the team plans future expansion to Ethereum and BSC, creating complementary use cases between centralized and on-chain environments with HTX.

Valhalla | "Full-Chain Matching" on MegaETH

Valhalla is an on-chain perpetual contract exchange deployed within the MegaETH ecosystem, focusing on bringing CEX-level speed to the blockchain while preserving composability—funds remain in users’ wallets, enabling integration with other DeFi protocols. The platform uses full-chain matching and settlement, promising reduced slippage and queue congestion under MegaETH’s low-latency environment. To bootstrap liquidity, it offers Start Vault—a market-making vault allowing LPs to one-click provide liquidity and share fees and market-making profits. The waiting list and data preview are currently open. In December 2024, the project announced a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round led by Robot Ventures, with participation from GSR, Kronos, MitonC, Wincent, Hash3, BigBrain, Sumcap, among others.

II. Unified Margin / Stablecoin-Native

Ethereal | Derivatives Powered by Universal USDe

Ethereal is a spot + perpetual contract DEX centered around Ethena’s USDe, implementing a unified margin model aiming to combine the seamless UX of CEXs with on-chain self-custody. The mechanism allows users to deposit USDe into Ethereal’s pre-funded vault, earning native USDe rewards and accumulating points in real time—users simply need to deposit and trade normally, with reward balances growing instantly. Officially disclosed, the platform has entered Season One (four phases). Season Zero attracted over 30,000 unique participants; all depositors will receive a 100% boost to their Season Zero points (capped at total Season Zero points, effective upon end of Phase 1).

The key differentiator from other perps is its deep integration with Ethena, enabling streamlined settlement paths and coordinated rewards through unified margin. While no public funding details have been disclosed, the team has submitted a proposal for integration on the Ethena governance forum, positioning Ethereal as the native derivatives use case for USDe. Nansen reported in March 2025 that pre-funded deposits in Season 0 exceeded $400 million; DefiLlama data shows TVL at ~$401 million, measured as USDe locked in the pre-funded vault.

StandX | Yield-Bearing Margin with DUSD

StandX is a perpetual contract DEX enabling trading with yield-bearing margin. Its flagship product is DUSD—a yield-generating stablecoin—where all contracts are denominated and settled in DUSD, supporting BNB Chain and Solana wallet integrations. DUSD has issued approximately 62.39 million tokens (market cap ~$6.239 million), redeemable anytime in USDT or USDC. Core team members come from the Binance Futures founding team and Goldman Sachs.

III. Aggregation & Entry Layer

Vooi | One-Click Cross-Chain Perpetual Router

Vooi is a cross-chain perpetual contract aggregator DEX—essentially routing trades across multiple perp exchanges through a single interface, eliminating the need to switch chains, bridge assets, or prepare gas. The system unifies balance and enables one-click order placement. Available on mobile and Telegram mini-apps. The platform has launched V2 mainnet, aggregating protocols including Orderly, KiloEx, SynFutures, Hyperliquid, Ostium, supporting over 200 spot and perpetual markets.

The project disclosed receiving early investment from YZi Labs in August 2024. Public data shows cumulative trading volume has surpassed $10 billion, with approximately 122,000 active traders; monthly active users exceeded 10,000 in July–August.

Dexari | Bringing Hyperliquid to Mobile

Dexari is a decentralized perpetual contract trading application powered by Hyperliquid’s order book, essentially porting Hyperliquid’s on-chain order book and deep liquidity into a mobile-native experience. It offers up to 50x leverage for BTC and ETH, with orders and executions routed through Hyperliquid’s matching engine—low fees, near-real-time execution—and users can trade without KYC.

For retail traders, Dexari provides a lightweight app experience with access to Hyperliquid’s liquidity and professional features (conditional orders, take-profit/stop-loss, position and funding rate dashboards), while maintaining self-custody of assets. However, its liquidity and tradable asset coverage depend entirely on Hyperliquid—it functions more as a mobile entry point than a fully independent DEX.

IV. Chain-Level Solutions

Reya Network | Trading-Oriented L2 with Built-in Reya DEX

Reya Network is not a conventional perp protocol but rather an Ethereum-aligned Layer 2 designed specifically for trading scenarios, with its flagship application being the built-in Reya DEX. The platform emphasizes gas-free transactions, MEV resistance, and FIFO queueing, currently covering approximately 65 markets. After connecting a wallet and depositing USDC, the system automatically wraps it into rUSD as unified margin. Liquidity providers can stake rUSD to earn yields and accumulate Reya Chain Points (RCP)—the official allocation basis for future airdrops.

The team is led by Simon Jones (whose previous project Voltz achieved over $30 billion nominal volume within 12 months). The project has secured investments from Framework, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute, among others—including a $6 million seed round in December 2021 and a $10 million follow-on in March 2024. On-chain and operational data show, as of publication, Reya chain’s secure custody size (TVS) at ~$16.64 million (via L2BEAT), and Reya DEX protocol TVL at ~$26.72 million (via DefiLlama), with ~$389 million in perp trading volume in the last 24 hours.

V. Comprehensive All-in-One / Hybrid Market Making

flyingtulip | All-in-One Platform: Spot + Perps + Lending

flyingtulip is a comprehensive on-chain trading platform integrating spot trading, perpetual contracts, lending, options, and structured yield products. Its underlying architecture combines hybrid market makers with order books—delivering tighter spreads during calm markets, and automatically tightening leverage and borrowing limits during volatility spikes. Available lending capacity adjusts dynamically based on real-time executable depth and current market volatility, reducing the likelihood of forced liquidations during extreme conditions.

Beyond core trading, the platform introduces ftUSD—a USD-equivalent asset generated via delta-neutral positions—used for liquidity provision and incentive distribution. It supports multi-chain deposits and gas subsidies, aiming to bind CEX-grade tools with on-chain settlement.

The team is led by core developers behind Yearn, Keep3r, and ve33. The platform has designed a native token FT (though TGE remains undisclosed), with equal allocation between investors and foundation. Private investors hold redeemable protection clauses, and proceeds are allocated to strategy-driven yield generation, with profits used to repurchase tokens, incentivize users, and support market making.