A statement by Binance founder CZ, 'Everyone wants to do Perp DEX,' captures the hottest trend in the current crypto market. This assertion accurately reflects the current market dynamics where centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) forces are interwoven, competing and integrating.

Background of DEX's Strong Rise: The Decline of CEX's "Three Powers"
Centralized exchanges are facing the decline of the "three powers" they rely on for survival: pricing power, listing fee power, and liquidity control power. The rise of perpetual contract decentralized exchanges (Perp DEX) is a key driver behind this situation.

According to Q2 2025 data, the trend of traffic shift in the crypto market is already very clear:

Trading Volume Resurgence: Perp DEX trading volume reached a new high of $898 billion in Q2 2025, accounting for a significant share of overall DeFi growth. Meanwhile, the overall trading volume of centralized exchanges (CEX) decreased by nearly 28%.
Market Share Squeeze: The DEX-to-CEX trading volume ratio has soared to 40% or even higher, indicating that decentralized platforms are accelerating their erosion of the market share of centralized giants.
CEX's Strategic Counterattack
In this context, CEXs need a "traffic anchor" to re-lock users and trading volume. Due to their inherent advantages, Perp DEXs have become a strategic choice for CEXs:

Capturing Non-KYC Traffic and Long-Tail Assets: The strict compliance requirements (KYC/AML) of CEXs are constraints on their expansion. Perp DEXs naturally attract users seeking privacy and anonymous trading. Through permissionless listing mechanisms, they can quickly capture market hotspots and various "long-tail assets," including Meme coins that haven't undergone extensive due diligence.

Countering Competition from Native DEXs: Native Perp DEXs, represented by projects like Hyperliquid, are rapidly rising. Their trading volume and market share are continuously eating into CEXs' derivatives market. CEXs must participate by building their own, investing in, or integrating Perp DEXs to retain lost users and traffic within their own ecosystems.

Key Trends for Perp DEX in 2025
RWA Integration: The integration of Real-World Assets (RWAs) is bridging crypto and traditional finance, such as stock Perps (like Tesla and NVIDIA) on Aster.

AI and Modularization: Projects like Jaine are leveraging AI to drive trading, while modular chains like Celestia provide higher scalability for Perp DEXs.

Narrative-Driven: A "narrative-first" approach, such as seen with SunPerp, emphasizes community and attention, helping them stand out against established competitors like GMX.

The shift towards zero-fee models and points farming has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for users. Platforms like Lighter and Paradex are leading this trend, attracting a large number of "airdrop hunters" and professional traders through incentive mechanisms, further driving liquidity concentration.

Potential Emerging Projects (Pre-TGE Stage)
Besides pioneers like Aster, the community is enthusiastic about pre-TGE projects, which are often sought after for their airdrop potential, points, and innovative narratives:

Ethereal: Tied to the Ethena ecosystem, it offers high-performance trading supported by USDe. Hype surrounds its strong narrative and massive airdrop potential.

Hibachi: Backed by Dragonfly, it incentivizes trading volume and PnL through Masterchef competitions, seen as an easy points farming opportunity.

Pacifica: Built on Solana by former Binance and Coinbase teams, praised for its user-oriented value accumulation model.

Extended: Built by former Revolut team, already launched but in the pre-token stage, considered a mid-term points farming target.

Conclusion
Perpetual DEXs are not just a sub-sector of DeFi; they are the fastest-growing and most innovative segment, poised to redefine on-chain trading with unprecedented volume and technological innovation. From Hyperliquid's dominance to CEXs' strategic counterattacks, 2025 is undoubtedly the year of the Perp wars. Although some believe the DEX market will eventually trend towards a "winner-takes-all" structure like social media, the active "experimentation" by CEXs and the emergence of hybrid models are validating another fact: the crypto financial market needs diversity, not a single霸主 (dominant force).