This article outlines the key developments of Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, edgeX, and StandX over the past year, organized chronologically. This week, Hyperliquid once again captured market attention: the HYPE token surged over 40% in one week and hit an all-time high. Meanwhile, other Perp DEX-related projects—including Aster, Lighter, and edgeX—also posted gains of varying degrees, bringing the entire sector back into the spotlight.

Over the past year, the Perp DEX landscape has undergone significant evolution. These protocols are no longer merely on-chain alternatives to CEX perpetuals, nor do they compete solely via trading mining, points systems, or fee discounts. Instead, they are expanding across multiple dimensions: stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), prediction markets, proprietary blockchains, revenue buybacks, and yield-bearing margin.

In this article, we trace the major milestones of several representative Perp DEXs over the past year—examining what they’ve achieved recently and what each is currently building.

1️⃣ Hyperliquid: From Trading Platform to On-Chain Financial Infrastructure

Over the past year, Hyperliquid’s evolution has gone well beyond volume growth—it has meaningfully expanded its product scope. What began as a perpetual-contract–centric exchange is now simultaneously extending into stablecoins, prediction markets, and an open platform for custom contract deployment.

In September 2025, Hyperliquid launched its native stablecoin USDH. Unlike typical project-issued stablecoins, USDH is distinctive in that it aims to capture Hyperliquid’s internal USD liquidity “entry point.”

In October 2025, Hyperliquid introduced HIP-3. Prior to HIP-3, only official Hyperliquid teams could decide which assets to list on its perpetual markets. With HIP-3, external Builders can now deploy their own Perp markets directly on Hyperliquid. Today, HIP-3 markets span traditional finance, commodities, and equities. For example: WTI crude oil recorded ~$877 million in 24-hour volume and ~$209 million in open interest; Brent crude logged ~$368 million in 24-hour volume and ~$323 million in open interest. To put those figures in context: top HIP-3 markets’ 24h volumes now approach the level of mid-tier mainstream assets ranked #10–#20 on Binance’s spot trading leaderboard.

In February 2026, Hyperliquid proposed HIP-4, introducing outcome contracts—and subsequently advanced them on testnet. The first live outcome markets went live in early May. Unlike traditional perpetuals, HIP-4 lets users trade on where an underlying’s price will ultimately settle—in predefined ranges. So far, two BTC price-prediction markets have launched under HIP-4. Crucially, unlike Polymarket—which operates as a standalone product—HIP-4 is natively embedded into Hyperliquid’s account system and matching engine. Users don’t need to move funds or switch accounts to participate in prediction markets.

In May 2026, Hyperliquid’s stablecoin strategy took a new turn. Coinbase announced plans to serve as a capital deployer to activate AQAv2 on USDC; Circle will act as the technical deployer, responsible for CCTP and native cross-chain infrastructure. This signals a strategic pivot: Hyperliquid’s ecosystem-aligned stablecoin focus is shifting from USDH toward USDC. In upcoming network upgrades, HIP-4 outcome markets will also use USDC as their quoting asset.

2️⃣ Aster: From Volume Surge to Building Its Own Trading Ecosystem

Where Hyperliquid spent a year broadening its protocol boundaries, Aster pursued a more direct growth path: first scale trading volume, then gradually expand products and infrastructure. In December 2025, Aster released its 2026 H1 Roadmap, beginning phased rollouts of Shield Mode, TWAP strategy orders, and RWA perpetual markets—including equities, FX, and commodities.

In March 2026, Aster Chain’s mainnet launched its first phase—marking Aster’s transition from a Perp DEX to its own L1 chain. It emphasizes privacy-first trading using ZK proofs and private addresses to conceal select transaction details—while prioritizing low latency, high throughput, and zero-gas UX.

In May 2026, Aster further expanded its tradable asset set and introduced Permissionless Listing Vote—a mechanism that delegates part of the listing authority to the community. Rather than “the platform decides what assets to list,” it becomes “external participants collectively drive new markets.” Current data shows growing activity in select traditional finance markets: e.g., crude oil (CLU) logged ~$8.37 million in 24-hour volume; silver (XAG) ~$7.48 million.

3️⃣ StandX: Turning Perp Margin Into Yield-Bearing Assets

StandX seeks to re-monetize funds that would otherwise sit idle—or be sunk—during trading. In January 2026, StandX launched Maker Points to reward limit-order liquidity provision. Between March and April, StandX rolled out SIP-1 through SIP-4, building a higher-capital-efficiency Perp trading layer around DUSD, position yield, and large-trade execution. StandX’s product narrative is now cohesive: DUSD delivers yield on margin; Maker Points incentivize order-book liquidity; Position Yield improves capital efficiency for open positions; Block Trade and TP/SL cater to larger, more sophisticated trading needs.

4️⃣ Lighter: Shifting From Airdrop Expectations to Revenue Buybacks, RWA, and ZK Security

In January 2026, Lighter launched its LIT buyback program—using fees generated by its DEX and future products to conduct on-chain LIT repurchases. In February 2026, Lighter upgraded its Liquidity Provider infrastructure, introducing distinct strategies for different market types—including crypto perpetuals, FX, and RWA markets. In April 2026, Lighter unveiled its Liquidity Partner Program, targeting deeper RWA liquidity—with weekly rewards of ~$250,000 focused on crude oil, precious metals, and tech equities.

5️⃣ edgeX: From Pre-TGE Incentives to EDGE Chain and TradFi Perps

In February 2026, Circle Ventures invested in edgeX—smoothing its roadmap for USDC-based margin, settlement, and institutional liquidity integration. In March 2026, edgeX published EDGE airdrop terms and completed its Token Generation Event (TGE). From April to May, edgeX expanded its TradFi Perps offerings, adding numerous equity, commodity, and macro markets. In May 2026, edgeX opened its Contract V2 Beta—designed to support more markets, faster matching, and more complex trading products.

Final Thoughts

Looking back at the past year, the transformation of Perp DEXs is unmistakable: they’re no longer content to function solely as on-chain perpetual exchanges. With U.S. equities performing strongly this year—and tech stocks, AI-related assets, and traditional financial markets continuing to attract capital—the Perp DEXs are now competing not just for crypto perpetual volume, but for broader global asset trading demand. HYPE’s surge may have simply reignited market attention—but the deeper shift is clear: Perp DEX competition has evolved from “CEX alternative” to “who best serves global asset trading demand?”

[Biteye Content Team]