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On-Chain Crypto Perps Smash Records with $1T Trading Volume
On-chain perpetual-focused decentralized exchanges have surpassed $1 trillion in total trading volume this month.
Updated Oct 24, 2025, 3:01 p.m. Published Oct 24, 2025, 7:01 a.m.
What to know:
- On-chain perpetual-focused decentralized exchanges have surpassed $1 trillion in total trading volume this month.
- The increase in trading volume coincides with heightened market volatility, particularly on Oct. 10, when major cryptocurrencies crashed.
On-chain perpetual-focused decentralized exchanges have hit a new milestone, surpassing $1 trillion in total trading volume this month – a sharp rise from $739 billion in September. This surge marks the highest monthly trading activity ever recorded for these platforms, according to data source DefiLlama.
The record volume comes amid increased market turbulence, particularly on Oct. 10, when major cryptocurrencies crashed, triggering a staggering $20 billion in forced liquidations across both centralized and decentralized exchanges. Hyperliquid, the leading on-chain perpetual DEX, alone liquidated 1,000 wallets, with 205 losing over $1 million each.
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Notably, Oct. 10 also saw on-chain perpetual markets hit a record single-day trading volume of $78 billion. The surge in volumes on decentralized platforms underscores growing trader confidence in permissionless, high-leverage markets and signals that decentralized exchanges are quickly closing the gap with their centralized counterparts.
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
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- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
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- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Dogecoin, PEPE rocket as much as 25% as 2026 starts with a bang for memecoins
The broader meme coin market is heating up, with CoinGecko's GMCI Meme Index showing a market value of $33.8 billion and a trading volume of $5.9 billion.
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