DEX Trading Hits All-Time High in October 2025

Decentralized exchanges smash records as traders flock to non-custodial platforms.

The Unstoppable Rise

October 2025 witnessed decentralized trading volumes surging past previous benchmarks—no intermediaries, no permissions, just pure market momentum driving unprecedented activity across all major DEX protocols.

Market Mechanics Unleashed

Automated market makers handled billions in daily swaps while liquidity pools deepened beyond traditional exchange capabilities. The numbers don't lie—when you remove the gatekeepers, capital flows where it wants.

Regulatory Shadows Loom

Meanwhile, traditional finance executives are probably still trying to figure out how to tax something they can't control. The irony? Their compliance departments might be the only thing growing faster than DEX volumes right now.

The revolution isn't coming—it's already executing trades at lightning speed while Wall Street drafts another committee report.

In brief

• In October 2025, perpetual contracts on DEX reached a record volume of $1.3 trillion, a threshold never reached before.
• This surge in volumes represents nearly double those recorded in September ($738 billion).
• Several decentralized platforms like Hyperliquid, Lighter, or EdgeX played a key role in this rise.
• The tightening of rules on centralized platforms (CEX) contributed to a migration towards DEX, which are more flexible and transparent.

A record month for DEXs : the numbers that change the game

This October marks a turning point for crypto derivatives, as Trump’s tariffs sowed chaos in the market. According to DeFiLlama data, decentralized perpetual contracts (DEX perps) surpassed for the first time the symbolic $1,000 billion monthly volume mark, reaching precisely $1.3 trillion.

This figure represents nearly double the volume observed in September, which stood at $738 billion. Meanwhile, the open interest (OI) on perpetual contracts peaked at around $17.9 billion, an indicator of the rising importance of these instruments on on-chain markets.

Several factors explain this spectacular growth in volume on DEX. Here are the main ones :

• The rise of new players : platforms like Hyperliquid, Lighter, and EdgeX, deployed on Ethereum or Arbitrum, have taken over in a context of partial disengagement from centralized platforms ;

• The regulatory context on CEX : increased compliance requirements and reduced market-making activities on centralized platforms have redirected some liquidity toward decentralized alternatives ;

• The change in user profiles : Juan Pellicer, a researcher at Sentora, specifies that DEXs now meet the needs of the “long tail” of traders, slower or less active profiles, thanks to adapted execution models ;

• The structural strengths of DEX : transparency, composability, and the openness of on-chain protocols allow greater flexibility and attract users seeking autonomy.

This combination of technical innovations, regulatory adjustments on CEX, and growing maturity of decentralized protocols has allowed DEX to cross a symbolic and strategic milestone. They are no longer just an alternative, as they become a central player in the crypto derivatives market.

Between monetary policy and market shock: catalysts of a massive migration

Beyond the organic growth of the sector, some cyclical elements contributed to this surge in volumes in October. In particular, the second interest rate cut made this year by the U.S. Federal Reserve played an amplifying role.

By lowering short-term rates, the Fed makes fully funded spot investments less attractive, while increasing the implied value of collateral used for Leveraged products. Thus, perpetual contracts become mechanically more competitive, enhancing their appeal to yield-seeking investors.

However, it is probably the October 10, 2025 episode that crystallized this trend. On that day, an announcement by Donald TRUMP about new tariffs on China triggered a widespread crash in crypto markets.

This situation led to the largest wave of liquidations recorded to date. Some centralized platforms experienced slowdowns and even outages, forcing many traders to turn to DEX. The volume traded on decentralized perpetual markets that day reached $78 billion, a historic daily record.

The rise of DEX on perpetual contracts marks a turning point for the crypto market. Driven by both conjunctural factors and structural changes, this dynamic could sustainably redefine the balance between centralized finance and DeFi, while raising new challenges in regulation, transparency, and resilience.

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