CEX perpetual futures volume falls to $4T, lowest since late 2023
Reported by Cointelegraph · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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Summary
Crypto perpetual futures trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEXs) dropped to $4 trillion in July, marking the lowest level since December 2023. Binance led the CEX perpetual futures volume with $1.4 trillion, followed by OKX at $607 billion and Bybit at $300 billion, according to CryptoRank. Decentralized exchange (DEX) perpetual futures volume also declined to $531 billion in July, the lowest since June 2025, per DefiLlama.
Why it matters
The decline in perpetual futures volume on both centralized and decentralized platforms reflects a broad slowdown in crypto derivatives trading activity. This retrenchment coincides with a 23.6% decrease in daily spot crypto trading volume between July 1 and July 31. The reduction in volumes may impact liquidity, trading revenues, and market dynamics in the crypto space.
Key context
Perpetual futures volumes had seen a brief rebound from April to June before falling again in July across major exchanges. On DEXs, open interest dropped from a peak of $19.4 billion in September 2025 to $17.9 billion in July, suggesting a reduction in active unsettled contracts. Hyperliquid was the top DEX by perpetual futures volume, with tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) comprising 32% of its Q2 trading activity and becoming the largest trading category by volume in mid-July.
Key numbers and entities
Binance: $1.4 trillion in CEX perpetual futures volume (July) OKX: $607 billion (July) Bybit: $300 billion (July) Overall CEX volume: $4 trillion (July) DEX perpetual futures volume: $531 billion (July) Hyperliquid: $199 billion DEX volume (30 days); RWAs 32% of Q2 volume, 6.6% of $169 million quarterly revenue Daily spot trading volume fell from $17.8 billion to $13.6 billion in July
What remains unclear
The source does not flag open questions or provide detailed reasons behind the persistent decline in futures trading volumes. Further analysis on causes or implications beyond volume statistics is not included.