Onchain perpetual contracts have surged to $972 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days, even as broader crypto market sentiment remains cautious.
Market participants increasingly view perpetual futures as core decentralised finance infrastructure rather than pure speculative instruments.
Perpetual contracts allow traders to gain leveraged exposure without holding spot assets, shifting activity away from traditional altcoin trading cycles.
David Duong, a researcher at Coinbase, said traders have leaned heavily on perps to offset limited movement in altcoin spot markets.
The unprecedented leverage level offered by perps has allowed traders to amplify their exposure and potential profits or losses with low capital.
David Duong said.
Duong added that stagnant altcoin prices over the past year strengthened the appeal of perpetual derivatives.
Decentralised finance composability has enabled perps to function as financial building blocks within liquidity pools, lending platforms, and collateral frameworks.
This integration has reduced reliance on short-term speculation and encouraged structural use cases across DeFi protocols.
Decentralised exchanges are capturing a growing share of perpetual trading volume while centralised platforms consolidate.