CEX Perpetual Futures Volume Drops to $4T, Lowest Since Late 2023

Perpetual futures trading on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs) fell to $4 trillion in July, marking the lowest volume seen in 31 months since December 2023. This decline was observed across major venues like Binance ($1.4T), OKX ($607B), and Bybit ($300B).

The recovery of these volumes between April and June was short-lived, with a subsequent drop in July. Meanwhile, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) saw their perpetual futures trading volume decline to $531 billion, the lowest since June 2025—a 21% decrease from June 2026 levels.

This downturn in activity coincided with daily spot crypto trading volumes falling by 23.6%, from $17.8B on July 1st to $13.6B by the end of the month, according to Coinglass data. Open interest on DEXs also decreased, dropping to $17.9 billion in July from a peak of $19.4 billion in September 2025.

Hyperliquid remained the leading DEX with $199B in trading volume over the past month, though tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) have become an increasingly significant part of its trading activity. RWAs now account for a majority of Hyperliquid’s weekly trading volume and contributed 6.6% to the protocol's Q2 revenue.

This decline in perpetual futures volumes suggests a broader cooling off in crypto market activity, potentially reflecting investor sentiment or macroeconomic factors affecting cryptocurrency markets globally. Traders should monitor these platforms closely as they could provide insights into future market trends and regulatory developments impacting decentralized finance (DeFi).

Going forward, traders will need to keep an eye on how this trend evolves, particularly the role of RWAs in DEX trading volumes. As the crypto space continues to diversify its asset classes, changes in these markets can offer valuable signals for broader market health and investor sentiment.

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Source: Cointelegraph. Summarized and rewritten by the Vexoda Newsroom. This is market news, not financial advice.