By Key Points
- Aster overtakes Hyperliquid with $300B+ in weekly trading
- Hyperliquid’s share plummets from 45% to just 8%
- Analyst says Hyperliquid is still the “most investible”
- USDH, HIP-3, and HyperEVM boost Hyperliquid’s future
The decentralized perpetual trading sector hit a milestone in September 2025, with trading volume surging past $1.14 trillion for the first time.
Most of that growth was driven by Aster, a rising DEX powerhouse that overtook Hyperliquid, the former market leader.
New data from DefiLlama shows Aster handled over $81 billion in daily volume on October 2, while Hyperliquid managed just over $10 billion. That day marked a turning point. Hyperliquid’s market share has dropped drastically, from 45% to just 8% in recent weeks.
Perp DEX Monthly Trading Volume. Source: DefiLlama – Techtokens
While the numbers show a decline, DeFi analyst Patrick Scott says this doesn’t mean Hyperliquid is failing. In fact, he believes it’s the “most investible” perp DEX on the market right now. His reasoning? Strong fundamentals, user loyalty, real revenue, and long-term strategy.
Scott emphasized that Hyperliquid hasn’t depended on flashy token incentives or hype to grow. Instead, it has built a product and ecosystem that users stick with. Even after its HYPE airdrop, user retention stayed strong, proving the platform’s lasting appeal.
Why Hyperliquid is still the best-positioned Perp DEX:
Over the past few weeks…
-Hyperliquid’s share of Perp DEX volume has fallen from 45% to 8%
-Aster’s volume has grown more than 100X to $300b+ last week
-Lighter and edgeX have risen to have comparable volume to Hyperliquid… pic.twitter.com/rfIZzGEdsc— Patrick Scott | Dynamo DeFi (@patfscott) October 2, 2025
“You can’t replicate loyalty with giveaways,” Scott said. “Hyperliquid has sticky users because it offers a better experience.”
Strong Metrics Power Hyperliquid’s Long-Term Value
Despite losing volume share to Aster, Hyperliquid still leads in some key metrics. The most important is open interest, where Hyperliquid holds 62% of the entire perp DEX market. This shows traders are keeping their positions open on the platform, an important sign of trust and engagement.
In terms of business, Hyperliquid is generating real money. It trades at a 12.6x revenue multiple, showing healthy investor confidence in its future earnings.
Unlike other platforms that rely heavily on airdrops or promotions, Hyperliquid has focused on sustainable growth.
Beyond just trading, Hyperliquid is expanding as a full blockchain ecosystem. Its own Layer 1 chain, HyperEVM, hosts over 100 protocols. These include both native and third-party projects like Kinetiq, Hyperlend, Pendle, Morpho, and Phantom.
The network has $2 billion in total value locked (TVL) and earns about $3 million per day in application fees.
“It’s not just a DEX anymore,” Scott said. “Hyperliquid is a complete DeFi platform.”
One of Hyperliquid’s newest innovations is USDH, a stablecoin backed by BlackRock and Superstate reserves. This stablecoin is already gaining traction, with a $25 million market cap, and its yield model helps fund ecosystem growth.
For context, this follows a broader trend of stablecoin-backed innovation, similar to developments in Ondo Global Markets, where tokenized securities and real-world assets are fueling the next wave of DeFi utility.
Another major development is the upcoming HIP-3 proposal, which allows developers to create new perpetual markets by staking 500,000 HYPE tokens. This gives Hyperliquid a unique edge, it becomes not just a trading platform but also infrastructure for other builders.
“HIP-3 expands the number of assets users can trade and creates more use cases for HYPE,” Scott noted. “This gives Hyperliquid staying power.”
Competition Is Rising, But Hyperliquid Holds Its Ground
Even with all its strengths, Hyperliquid faces rising competition. Besides Aster, new platforms like Lighter, edgeX, and SunPerp are entering the market. SunPerp, launched by TRON founder Justin Sun, officially went live during Token2049 on October 1.
Amazing first day!🙌
Great to see @Trondao lead the way as Title Sponsor at @Token2049 and get the opportunity to share the launch of @Sunperp_Dex with the community today! https://t.co/R8Z8UQYp8O
— H.E. Justin Sun 👨🚀 🌞 (@justinsuntron) October 1, 2025
Even Binance’s founder CZ weighed in on the explosion of perp DEXs, saying, “More players will grow the market size faster. Long term, the best builders win.”
Still, Hyperliquid has weathered worse. Since launching, it has stayed ahead of trends, from launching its own L1 to building out its dApp ecosystem. Its decision to avoid short-term hype and focus on sustainable revenue, deep liquidity, and builder-friendly infrastructure could pay off big in the long run.
Revealing BounceBit V3 – Big Bank
A rebasing BB-token standard, a perpetuals DEX and its liquidity pool built into the core.
One chain. One exchange. One big bank.
And all roads lead to $BB. pic.twitter.com/Kvsemk2GkL
— BounceBit (@bounce_bit) October 2, 2025
This mirrors what we’ve seen with other platforms in recovery, like Jupiter, which fell sharply but maintained developer confidence and is signaling a strong comeback.
Similarly, Hyperliquid’s user stickiness and revenue resilience make it a candidate for rebound dominance, if current usage metrics hold.
Some risks do remain. A continued drop in volume, declining open interest, or failure of USDH to scale could all hurt Hyperliquid’s edge.
However, as seen with recent events like the US credit downgrade, volatile macro conditions often push users toward decentralized platforms with stronger infrastructure and stablecoin systems.
Whoa, now everyone wants to be Perp Dex.
More players will grow the market size faster. Rising tide lifts all boats.
Long term, the best builders win. DYOR.
Perp Dex era! https://t.co/BLKSGBe4Ii
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) September 24, 2025
The growth in Hyperliquid’s own ecosystem could also benefit from increased adoption of on-chain finance, similar to how Coinbase’s Bitcoin loans are making crypto more usable for everyday borrowing and lending.
Lastly, long-term confidence in the crypto sector, including bullish outlooks on assets like Ethereum, may continue to support perp DEX growth. In that picture, Hyperliquid still looks like one of the strongest picks.
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