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💥 Perps explode past $1T

💥 Perps explode past $1T

PLUS: Stablecoins spread in Europe, tokenized funds scale quietly, and global capital searches for its next rail.

Cryptopolitan News
December 30, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Onchain perps just crossed $1 Trillion.

That’s not a typo.

Monthly decentralized perpetual futures volume passed $1 trillion for the first time, a number that speaks to growing trader demand for leverage and finally DeFi infrastructure to support it.

❝

Perps are evolving beyond degenerate leverage tools. They’re becoming composable building blocks across DeFi markets.

David Duong, head of research at Coinbase Institutional.

Why it’s happening:

Altcoins went sideways → Traders chased yield on margin
Speculative positions maxed out around 10%, and dropped to ~4% post-October liquidations
Like any other crypto derivatives, decentralised perps promise deep liquidity, low fees and 24/7 access, just without the custodian risk.

They’re increasingly being turned into composable Lego-like building blocks by DeFi markets. Hyperliquid alone had $319 billions in volume in July. Aster held the #1 position for a short period immediately following it’s TGE in September and achieved $36B presale in a single day.

Over the past 30 days:

Lighter: $370B

Aster: $311B

Hyperliquid: $291B

(Source: DeFiLlama)

But this isn’t just for degens.

Duong says perps are increasingly integrating with lending, LPs and tokenized assets: upgrading hedges, interest rate tools and capital-efficient collateral systems.

Equity perp markets could be next.

Duong thinks tokenized U.S. stocks + 24x7 perps = next big disruption in retailing investing.

🪙 Hyperliquid Labs just published its next HYPE token unlock plans:

$31.2M worth of tokens (1.2M HYPE) will be distributed to team members on January 6
Circulating supply: 238.4M
Market cap: $6.2B
FDV: $25.1B

The unlocking schedule combined with potentially higher volumes could create new volatility spikes for HYPE in January.

👉 Will perps define DeFi in 2026 the way stablecoins defined it in 2020 or does the casino topple under the weight of its own leverage?

🧠 Cryptopolitan’s take

Cryptopolitan's take is that what began as an experiment proved to be one of the most invigorating stories of 2025.

And it's more than just a collection of trading tools.

With tokenized stocks, prediction markets, and liquidity layers like Hyperliquid and Aster emerging, the first vestiges of a new parallel Wall Street on-chain are beginning to form.

POLL: Have you ever used a Perp DEX?

📊 Market Watch

🥈 Silver stabilizes & Bitcoin funding soars

Following a rare 9% plunge, its worst single-day drop since 2018, silver did hold on to finish above $70, supported by tight supply and renewed gold momentum.

China’s stock markets are the breakout story of the year, with the MSCI China Index up 28 percent, ahead of even the S&P 500. Meawhile, in crypto, Bitcoin funding rates are heating up again (the highest they’ve been since October) as traders take big bets on a year-end breakout.

📊Open interest rises, though tension still shows

Trading activity has plunged this month, and yet crypto open interest was up $2.4 billion. Clearly traders are still in the game especially on BTC and ETH futures, despite fund outflows amounting to $446 million this week.

And it’s a mixed signal: leverage is rising, but not necessarily confidence. Some analysts suggest it is more a case of stubborn hope than true conviction

💰Europe’s stablecoin story is just beginning

Stablecoin activity in Europe has steadily grown this year, and more than 113 million transactions conducted on Ethereum and Solana passed through the continent.

That’s up 150% from 2024 even as regulators tighten the screws. The ECB is sounding alarm bells on financial stability, but the momentum hasn’t let up. And with nine European banks working on Qivalis, a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin, 2026 might see Europe define the next iteration of stablecoin infrastructure according to its own requirements.

👀 Are you watching this?

BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund (MMF) just hit a $100M dividend milestone and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

BUIDL was introduced in March 2024, but it’s growing quietly and showing that tokenized securities can be scaled. The fund has already closed over $2B in assets, paid dividends on-chain and welcomed Solana, Aptos, Avalanche and Optimism.

Now, what began as a pilot is becoming a model: programmable yields, real Treasury backing and around-the-clock liquidity. The lines between TradFi and DeFi are not just blurring. They’re being redrawn.

This is the new wave of capital markets.

Read here