Over the past two years, the rise of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) has become one of the most significant trends in the crypto market, with Hyperliquid emerging as a prominent representative. Since its launch in 2023, it has rapidly climbed to the top of the industry with its soaring trading volume. By August 2025, its market share had reached 6.9%, with a monthly trading volume of $21.4 billion, surging 129.3% year-over-year. With such achievements, Hyperliquid has been dubbed the "CEX killer," and its rise has directly spurred established centralized exchanges (CEXs) to accelerate their foray into the DEX arena.
Binance and Tron were the first giants to respond. The former launched Aster, a decentralized perpetual contract platform, in July, driven by CZ-backed YZi Labs and BNB ecosystem core project PancakeSwap. Aster aims to combine the high performance of CEXs with the trustless nature of DeFi, offering both a professional order book mode and a simplified liquidity pool mode to cater to traders of different levels. With the launch of its native token ASTER on September 17, which sparked a staggering 2,400% price surge, Aster quickly gained market attention and has become a direct competitor to Hyperliquid.
Meanwhile, Tron founder Justin Sun introduced SunPerp, positioned as a decentralized perpetual contract platform within the Tron ecosystem. Leveraging high liquidity, zero fees, and instant execution, SunPerp not only provides derivative trading options for TRON users but also aims to capture Hyperliquid's market share by capitalizing on the dominance of the USDT core network.
The entry of CEX giants is driven by three key factors. First is the pressure from Hyperliquid—since 2025, perpetual contract trading volumes have repeatedly hit record highs, with Hyperliquid at one point capturing nearly two-thirds of the market share, even surpassing many established exchanges. Second, the overall trading volume of DEXs is rapidly climbing, with spot trading volume increasing by 25% quarter-over-quarter in Q2, while CEX trading volume declined by 28%, indicating a accelerated shift of funds to on-chain platforms. Finally, launching DEX platforms helps fill ecosystem gaps, enabling Binance and Tron to enhance their competitiveness within the "CEX + DEX + Public Chain" matrix.
It is foreseeable that with the entry of Aster and SunPerp, competition in the DEX arena will enter a new phase. Although Hyperliquid holds a first-mover advantage, its throne may be challenged by the new platforms backed by CEX giants. The battle between decentralization and centralization is driving a new wave of transformation in the crypto trading market landscape.
