A Multi-Dimensional Comparison of 14 Perp DEXs: Who Can Become the Next Hyperliquid?

This article provides a multi-dimensional comparison of 14 leading perpetual decentralized exchanges (Perp DEXs), categorizing them by popularity (S+, S, A) to help investors identify opportunities.

Key Findings:

Hyperliquid remains the market leader with its proprietary L1 chain and deep liquidity.
New competitors are aggressively using points programs and high Annual Percentage Yields (APY) to capture market share.

Investment Strategy:

For projects that have not yet undergone a Token Generation Event (TGE), users are advised to interact with them to earn points for potential airdrops.
For projects that have already launched a token (TGE), investors should consider market capitalization and trends, favoring a "right-side" buying approach.

Detailed Project Breakdown:

Popularity S+ Level

Hyperliquid ($HYPER): The current leader; future airdrops are available via trading and staking.
Aster ($ASTER): Backed by Binance; offers high leverage and trading competitions for airdrops.
Backpack: Focuses on compliance/KYC; rewards users with points for trading activity.
edgeX: Incubated by Amber Group; uses StarkEx technology and offers a user-friendly experience.
Lighter_xyz: In private beta; offers high APY (~63%) through its market-making vault.
Avantis ($AVNT): Supports 500x leverage on multiple asset classes; staking $AVNT yields ~23% APY.

Popularity S Level

Paradex: Built on Starknet; offers zero-fee trading and a points system.
Orderly Network ($ORDER): Provides infrastructure; staking $ORDER earns fee dividends.
BasedOneX: Acts as a front-end for Hyperliquid; opportunities include ecological airdrops.
StandX: Developed by ex-Binance team; features an auto-earning stablecoin and is in beta.
BULK: A Solana-native exchange with ultra-fast matching; currently on testnet.

Popularity A Level

Reya Labs: Features a modular margin account usable across exchanges.
Drift Protocol ($DRIFT): An early Solana Perp DEX with interest-bearing collateral.
Jupiter ($JUP): A major DEX aggregator that has expanded into perpetual contracts.

Author: Biteye core contributor Viee

Editor: Biteye core contributor Denise

We systematically compare Perp DEX, which has the highest trading volume in Defilama, from six dimensions including features, participation methods, and capital system.

Grading by popularity S+, S, A, quickly master the core playing methods of each project. ????

01. Overview

Binance (Aster, StandX), Amber (edgeX), Paradigm (Paradex), Solana (BULK/Backpack/Jupiter/Drift), Base (Avantis)... each has its own territory.

Hyperliquid is still the leader, but new players are using points and APY to share the market.

For retail investors: For projects that have not yet undergone TGE, you can choose a few to interact and earn points. For projects that have undergone TGE, you need to consider market value and trends, and it is best to buy on the right side.

02. Popularity S+ level

1. @HyperliquidX, $HYPER

Highlights: Hyperliquid is undoubtedly the current leader in PerpDEX, with its proprietary L1 and fully on-chain CLOB, leading the way in liquidity and trading depth. For example, HyperEVM supports transaction latency of less than 1 second and top-tier trading depth.

Opportunity to Participate: The Hyperliquid team airdropped approximately 31% of HYPE to early adopters, making it one of the largest airdrops ever. Importantly, nearly 40% of the supply is reserved for subsequent community rewards. Users who missed out on the initial airdrop can consider increasing their trading volume, staking liquidity, and other measures to secure future opportunities.

2. @Aster_DEX, $ASTER

Features: Aster is a PerpDEX promoted by Binance. $ASTER saw its price surge 20x in its first week. The platform offers simple one-click/grid trading, up to 1001x leverage, and serves as a gateway to BNB chain traffic.

Participation opportunities: Currently, the main opportunity lies in trading, and you can get the second round of airdrops through trading competitions.

3. @Backpack, not TGE yet

Features: Backpack emphasizes compliance and security, introduces KYC mechanisms to ensure user authenticity, and even has an operating style somewhat similar to CeFi exchanges.

Participation opportunities: The trading points program rewards active users, and it is said that the weight of trading volume has increased after the launch of the third season.

4.@edgeX_exchange, not TGE yet

Features: edgeX, incubated by Amber Group, utilizes StarkEx ZK-Rollup technology. EdgeX also offers a meticulously polished user experience, including integrated MPC wallets to reduce the barrier to private key management and provide a user experience similar to that of a CEX platform.

Participation opportunity: Trading, weekly points weight = trading volume + activity, minimum 10U to participate.

5. @Lighter_xyz, not TGE yet

Features: Lighter is currently in an invite-only private beta. By building a dedicated EVM-compatible network (based on Starknet), it ensures both privacy and efficiency and low costs. Its LLP market-making vault also offers a high APY of approximately 63%. Note that a certain number of points are required to fully unlock the APY.

Participation opportunities: A points reward program has been launched for invited users. Each transaction will accumulate points, which are related to future airdrops.

6. @avantisfi, $AVNT

Features: Offers up to 500x leverage and supports trading in multiple markets including cryptocurrencies, foreign exchange, gold, crude oil, etc.

Participation Opportunities: Users currently holding AVNT can share in the platform’s revenue by staking tokens, with an annualized return of approximately 23%.

03. Popularity S level

7. @tradeparadex, not yet TGE

Features: Paradex is built on Ethereum's Layer 2 Starknet, integrating perpetual contracts, perpetual options, and a unified spot account. Paradex also employs a zero-fee strategy to encourage trading volume growth.

Participation opportunities: XP is quarterly based, with points awarded for holding positions, trading, and market making.

8. @OrderlyNetwork, $ORDER

Features: Build a high-performance order book infrastructure, which has been integrated by many wallets and DEXs, becoming a "backend matching engine" and allowing you to build the front end with one click.

Participation opportunity: Staking ORDER can earn dividends from transaction fees, achieving passive income similar to dividends.

9. @BasedOneX, not yet TGE

Features: Equivalent to Hyperliquid front-end, dealer model, building an omni-channel trading platform for Hyperliquid

Participation opportunities: ecological airdrops, trading competitions.

10.@StandX_Official, not TGE yet

Features: Developed by a former core member of the Binance Futures team, the platform has launched the DUSD automatic interest-earning stablecoin, offering a "trade-while-mining" profit-generating margin. Currently in beta, the PerpDex platform operates independently of venture capital.

Participation opportunity: PerpDex is currently in beta testing, and you can apply to join the waitlist. There is currently a pre-deposit promotion.

11. @_bulktrade, not yet TGE

Features: Solana-native, ultra-fast matching. BULK embeds the matching engine into the validator node. When a user places an order, it bypasses Solana's standard "transaction queue" and instead directly enters the validator node's built-in Bulk-Tile module. This allows matching to be completed within 20ms and finalized within 40ms.

Participation opportunity: The mainnet has not yet been launched, but testnet interaction is currently available.

04. Popularity Level A

12. @reya_xyz, not TGE yet

Features: Modular derivatives and margin engine logic, users have a margin account that can be used on multiple exchanges.

Participation opportunities: A points system is used to reward users, allowing them to trade and stake USDC, and participate in weekly settlement rankings.

13. @DriftProtocol, $DRIFT

Features: Drift is one of the earliest perpetual contract DEXs on Solana, introducing interest-bearing margin. Users' collateralized assets serve as margin and earn interest.

Participation opportunities: Subsequent participation opportunities mainly lie in coin staking and governance. You can also use the platform treasury function, with an annualized return ranging from 20%-50%.

14. @JupiterExchange, $JUP

Features: Previously the largest DEX aggregator on Solana, Jupiter has expanded its business, launching GMX-based perpetual contracts and a GLP-like liquidity pool, enabling spot and perpetual trading on a single platform.

Participation Opportunities: Future airdrops will continue to be allocated based on users’ trading and interaction activities on the Jupiter platform.