8 Best Perpetual DEXs (2026)

How perpetual DEXs differ from exchanges

Hyperliquid is our top pick and suits active traders who want the deepest liquidity on a perpetual DEX without handing over their coins. On a perpetual DEX you trade futures from your own wallet. You keep the keys, KYC is usually optional, and trades settle through smart contracts rather than on an exchange’s private ledger.

That changes what you should compare. Fees and leverage still matter, but so do the chain an exchange runs on, how you deposit and bridge funds, how deep its order books are, and how it has handled outages and exploits. When no company holds your money, contract and bridge risk take the place of custody risk.

1. Hyperliquid

HHyperliquid8.8/10Read reviewVisit ↗

Hyperliquid has the deepest liquidity of any perpetual DEX here, with $2,678,364,747 in futures traded over the last 24 hours, so spreads stay tight and larger orders slip less. It runs its own Layer 1 blockchain with a fully on-chain order book. Every order, cancellation and liquidation is public, yet execution feels close to a centralised exchange, and you pay no gas on trades.

Perps cover 183 assets with up to 40x leverage, and HIP-3 markets add tokenized stocks, indices and commodities at much lower taker fees. Regular futures cost 0.015% for makers and 0.045% for takers, and both drop with 14-day volume and staked HYPE. Vaults let you copy a lead trader, but each deposit locks your money for four days.

KYC is optional. USDC comes in over a bridge from Arbitrum, other networks get their own deposit address, and card and bank payments work too, but withdrawals are crypto only, with a $1 fee on USDC. Jeff Yan co-founded Hyperliquid in 2021, and it is based in Singapore. The main risk sits in the Arbitrum bridge contracts, where a flaw could cost users their funds, and the young chain could go down and leave you unable to manage positions.

Key points

• Hyperliquid has the most futures liquidity here, which keeps slippage low on bigger orders.
• Futures cost 0.015% for makers and 0.045% for takers, with no gas on trades.
• The catch is bridge risk, because USDC deposits pass through Arbitrum bridge contracts that could be exploited.

2. Aster

AAster6.6/10Read reviewVisit ↗

Aster's draw is leverage and choice: up to 200x leverage on major pairs and futures on 582 assets, the widest perp list here. You trade from a Web3 wallet on Aster's own chain and fund it from Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum or Solana. Solana and BNB Chain keep gas negligible, while Ethereum gas can swamp a small trade.

Fees are among the lowest here: makers pay 0.005% and takers pay 0.04%, plus network gas. Futures liquidity is solid at $581,416,878 in 24-hour volume, and hidden orders keep your resting size off the public book, which cuts your exposure to front-running bots. Leverage that high wipes out most accounts that use it, so treat the cap as a limit, not a target.

KYC is optional, and nobody can restore access if you lose your wallet. Deposits and withdrawals are crypto only, so cashing out to a bank means using another platform. Leonard co-founded Aster in 2024 through the merger of Astherus and APX Finance, and it is registered in Seychelles and backed by YZi Labs. Its main risk is youth: it hasn't traded through a real market crash, and a smart contract bug would be as final as a hack, with no regulator to turn to.

Key points

• Aster offers up to 200x leverage and futures on 582 assets.
• Makers pay 0.005% and takers 0.04%, among the lowest fees here.
• The catch is a short record, because it has not yet been tested by a major market crash.

3. Lighter

LLighter7.5/10Read reviewVisit ↗

Lighter's main pull is zero trading fees. A Standard account pays 0% for makers and takers, which suits smaller traders and anyone testing strategies. It runs as an Ethereum Layer 2 that checks order matching and liquidations with zero-knowledge proofs, so you can verify execution instead of trusting an operator. The trade-off is speed: Standard orders wait roughly 200 to 300 milliseconds, while a Premium tier at 0.002% maker and 0.02% taker fills faster.

Futures cover 205 assets, including contracts tied to forex, commodities and equities; leverage goes as high as 50x, and 24-hour volume sits at $968,490,212. Nethermind and zkSecurity have audited the code, no hacks or fund losses have been reported, and an emergency exit lets you withdraw if the sequencer goes down. Occasional outages have halted trading but left user funds untouched.

KYC is optional. You deposit from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Solana, Avalanche or HyperEVM with a minimum of 5 USDC or 0.001 ETH, and moving funds in or out costs only gas. Vladimir Novakovski co-founded Lighter in 2022; the team operates out of the United States. Support is Discord only and there's no mobile app, so if something breaks mid-trade you may wait on moderators who have little power to fix account problems.

Key points

• Standard accounts pay 0% for makers and takers.
• Zero-knowledge proofs verify matching and liquidations, and an emergency exit protects withdrawals.
• The catch is slower execution on the free tier, which can cost you in fast markets.

4. dYdX

DdYdX6.9/10Read reviewVisit ↗

No perpetual DEX here has been running longer than dYdX. It now operates its own Cosmos-based chain, where trades carry no gas. You connect MetaMask or Phantom and bridge USDC or ETH from Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Avalanche or Optimism, or send USDC straight to a Noble address. Bridged deposits rely on the bridge's own security, so the route you pick adds risk.

Perps cover 72 assets, mostly crypto plus gold and silver, at up to 50x leverage. Books are deep on majors like BTC-USD but thinner on newer markets, where large orders can slip, and 24-hour futures volume is $7,828,862. Starting fees are 0.01% per maker order and 0.05% per taker order; they fall with volume and DYDX staking, and are waived on BTC-USD and SOL-USD.

KYC is optional and a mobile app covers trading, but order types stop at market, limit, stop and scale, with no subaccounts. Antonio Juliano co-founded dYdX in 2017, with headquarters in the United States. In 2023 a price manipulation attack on its older V3 protocol caused about $9 million in protocol-level losses, and although user funds weren't directly hit, it shows that a logic flaw can cost money without any wallet breach.

Key points

• dYdX has the longest record here and runs gasless trading on its own chain.
• Fees start at 0.01% maker and 0.05% taker and are waived on major markets.
• The catch is thinner liquidity outside the majors, which means more slippage on smaller markets.

5. edgeX

EedgeX7.2/10Read reviewVisit ↗

edgeX is built for fast execution. Its order book runs off-chain for speed, trades settle on Ethereum through StarkEx zero-knowledge proofs, and leverage goes up to 100x. Amber Group, which incubated it, makes markets on the platform, so spreads hold up at realistic trade sizes, and 24-hour futures volume is $236,433,948.

You connect an EVM wallet such as MetaMask or sign up with email, then deposit USDT or USDC on Ethereum, Arbitrum or BNB Chain. Futures cover 168 assets; a maker order costs 0.012% and a taker order 0.038%, with lower rates at higher volume tiers. If the operator goes offline, forced withdrawals through Ethereum get your money out, and RigSec, SlowMist and PeckShield have audited the contracts and the StarkEx layer.

KYC is optional and deposits cost only gas, while withdrawals carry a $1 fee on Arbitrum and BNB Chain, and a mobile app matches the web platform. edgeX launched in 2024 and doesn't disclose its founders, so no named person is accountable for how it is run. Withdrawals to Ethereum can take up to 14 hours, so you can't count on getting funds out quickly in a fast market.

Key points

• edgeX offers up to 100x leverage, with Amber Group supporting liquidity.
• Futures cost 0.012% for makers and 0.038% for takers.
• The catch is slow Ethereum withdrawals and an undisclosed team, which limit how fast you can exit and whom you can hold to account.

6. Extended

EExtended6.6/10Read reviewVisit ↗

Makers pay nothing on Extended. The maker fee is 0% and takers pay 0.025%, whatever your account size or market, so your costs stay predictable. It runs on Starknet, an Ethereum Layer 2, where funds sit in smart contracts the platform can't touch and trades settle on-chain without gas. You deposit from Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon or Starknet, using MetaMask or a Starknet wallet such as Braavos.

The perp list is broad at 317 assets, with crypto alongside FX pairs, commodities and indices, up to 50x leverage, and $191,321,077 traded over the past day. Thin markets trade by request for quote, with market makers pricing your order on demand, and even limit orders there pay the taker fee. USDC is the collateral, and vault shares earn yield while still counting as margin.

KYC is optional, funding is crypto only, fast withdrawals run on Arbitrum and Ethereum, and there's no mobile app. Dmitrii Krasovskikh co-founded Extended in 2023, and ChainSecurity and Code4rena have audited its core contracts, with no major incidents reported. Because orders match off-chain, you rely on Extended's operator to match fairly, even though Starknet validates every trade.

Key points

• Makers pay 0% and takers 0.025% on every market.
• Perps span crypto, FX, commodities and indices, with gas-free trading on Starknet.
• The catch is off-chain order matching, which means trusting the operator for fair matching.

7. GRVT

GGRVT5.9/10Read reviewVisit ↗

On GRVT, makers get paid rather than charged. The maker fee is -0.0001%, a small rebate, and takers pay 0.045%, with both falling across nine tiers. It runs on zkSync's ZK Stack, matching orders off-chain and settling with zero-knowledge proofs anchored to Ethereum, while your funds stay under your control. You connect MetaMask or another wallet through WalletConnect, but you must also verify an email, which is unusual for a DEX.

Perps cover 186 crypto assets with leverage capped at 50x, daily trading volume reaches $495,114,282, and there's no spot, forex or stocks. Idle equity in your trading account earns yield, and the GLP vault runs a delta-neutral strategy for passive returns. Spearbit DAO and NCC Group have audited and tested the platform, and no major security incidents have been reported.

KYC is optional. You deposit USDT or USDC from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, Kaia or Tron, and withdrawals cost 15 USDT on Ethereum or 1 USDT plus gas on other networks. Hong Gyu Yea co-founded GRVT in 2022, which has its home in Singapore. Each account can withdraw at most 50,000 USDT a day, so you can't pull a large balance out quickly if you need to leave.

Key points

• Makers earn a rebate at -0.0001%, while takers pay 0.045%.
• Idle account equity earns yield, and native mobile apps cover trading.
• The catch is a daily withdrawal cap, which slows your exit with a large balance.

8. ApeX

AApeX6.5/10Visit ↗

ApeX lists futures on 126 assets and allows leverage as high as 125x, which gives traders plenty of room to size up, though leverage that high can liquidate a position on a small move. Copy trading and trading bots are built in, so you can follow other traders or automate a strategy without leaving the platform. It works as a DEX, and holders of its APEX token can stake it.

On futures, ApeX charges makers 0.02%, while takers pay 0.05%. That is the highest maker fee here, which adds up if you trade with limit orders. Liquidity is modest at $360,546,020 in 24-hour futures volume, and account protection includes two-factor authentication and a passphrase.

You can fund an account with crypto or Apple Pay, KYC is optional, and crypto withdrawals have no limits. ApeX launched in 2022 and is based in the United States, but it doesn't disclose its founders, so no named person answers for how it is run. It doesn't publish proof of reserves either, so you can't independently check that the funds behind the platform are fully there.

Key points

• ApeX offers up to 125x leverage with copy trading and bots built in.
• Futures cost 0.02% for makers and 0.05% for takers, the highest maker fee here.
• The catch is an undisclosed team and no proof of reserves, so you have little to verify before depositing.

How we ranked these exchanges

Our editorial team selected, tested and ranked the best perpetual DEXs. We compared how deep each exchange’s order books are, what trading and withdrawal fees cost, which markets and leverage limits it offers, how deposits and custody work, and how it has handled outages and exploits. The order is our editors’ judgment of the whole package, while the CWR Score on each card rates that exchange on its own, so an exchange placed lower can have a higher score.

• Liquidity and 24-hour futures volume
• Trading fees, including maker rebates and zero-fee tiers
• Market choice and leverage limits
• Self-custody, supported chains and the deposit and withdrawal setup
• Security record: audits, exploits, outages and emergency exits

Before you trade on a perpetual DEX

Check these points before you move money onto any perpetual DEX.

• Know how your deposit gets there. Most platforms take stablecoins over a bridge or a fixed set of networks, and sending on the wrong network can lose your funds. Check withdrawal costs and times too: GRVT charges 15 USDT on Ethereum, and edgeX withdrawals to Ethereum can take up to 14 hours.
• Protect your wallet and read what you sign. A DEX has no account recovery, so a lost seed phrase means lost funds. Confirm the exchange’s web address before you connect, because approving a malicious contract is a bigger danger than a leaked password.
• Weigh contract and bridge risk. Your money sits in smart contracts, and a bug there is as final as a hack. Hyperliquid’s USDC deposits rely on Arbitrum bridge contracts, and in 2023 dYdX lost about $9 million at protocol level to a price manipulation attack on its older V3 protocol.
• Understand liquidation and funding. Liquidations run automatically, and with high leverage, up to 200x on Aster, a small price move can close your position. Funding payments between longs and shorts add to or eat into your returns while a position stays open, so check the rate before holding a trade for days.
• Plan for an outage. Lighter has had occasional outages that halted trading, and a young chain like Hyperliquid’s can go down. Lighter’s emergency exit and edgeX’s forced withdrawals through Ethereum let you reach your funds if the operator stops, so check whether your exchange has something similar.

Bottom line

Hyperliquid is the pick for most traders who want perps from their own wallet. It has the deepest liquidity, no gas on trades and a broad market list, as long as you accept bridge risk and a young chain. Lighter suits smaller traders who want zero fees and verifiable execution and can live with slower fills. Aster fits traders chasing very high leverage and the widest perp list, and dYdX offers the longest track record. Whichever you choose, start with an amount you can afford to lose, use a cheap deposit network, and keep leverage well below the cap.