CEX perpetual futures volume falls to $4T, lowest since late 2023
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- DEX perpetual volume dropped to $531 billion in July, down 21% from $676 billion in June 2026 and the lowest level since June 2025, per DefiLlama
- DEX perps volume has trended lower from a peak of $1.36 trillion in October 2025
- DEX open interest fell to $17.9 billion in July from a peak of $19.4 billion in September 2025, indicating capital exiting rather than rotating
- Hyperliquid led decentralized exchanges with $199 billion in 30-day trading volume
- Tokenized real-world assets accounted for 32% of Hyperliquid's Q2 trading activity and 6.6% of its $169 million quarterly revenue
- RWAs became Hyperliquid's largest trading category for the first time between July 13-19, representing 52% of its weekly trading volume
Why it matters: While overall DEX perpetual volume contracts and open interest falls, Hyperliquid is quietly gaining share within the shrinking pie — tokenized real-world assets now drive 32% of its Q2 trading and a majority of weekly volume in mid-July, suggesting RWA perps are absorbing activity even as the broader perps market loses capital.
