Perpetuals decentralised exchanges ended 2025 with cumulative trading volume of about $12.09 trillion, up from roughly $4.1 trillion at the start of the year.
Data from DefiLlama showed around $7.9 trillion of that lifetime total arrived in 2025 alone.
The figures suggest about 65% of all perp DEX trading volume took place in a single calendar year.
Market watchers said the concentration underlined how fast onchain derivatives scaled as traders pushed more leverage on-chain.
December recorded roughly $1 trillion in perp DEX volume, capping a late-year surge.
Monthly volumes first touched $1 trillion in October, before repeating the mark through the end of the year.
The second-half rally drove most of the year’s growth rather than a steady climb across all quarters.
DefiLlama data put first-half 2025 volume near $2.1 trillion, while the second half reached about $5.74 trillion.
The second half therefore accounted for roughly 73% of 2025’s total perp DEX volume.