Derivatives & Perpetuals

Leading order-book perp DEX on its own Cosmos app-chain, CEX-grade execution

Pioneering GLP-model perp DEX with strong real yield, oracle-dependent pricing

Drift Protocol is Solana's premier perps DEX with innovative JIT liquidity and a hybrid AMM-orderbook model, delivering CEX-like performance but dependent on Solana's infrastructure reliability.

Gains Network's gTrade is a well-designed decentralized leveraged trading platform with broad asset coverage and novel architecture, offering one of the most complete perps experiences in DeFi.

Fastest-growing perp DEX on own L1, CEX-grade speed but centralization concerns

Hybrid orderbook-AMM perp DEX on Arbitrum with cross-chain Edge expansion

Vertex combines an off-chain sequencer with on-chain settlement on Arbitrum for a fast, cross-margined trading experience spanning spot, perps, and lending—a technically ambitious unified DEX.

Leading Solana perp DEX with hybrid vAMM + JIT liquidity and growing adoption

OG synthetic asset protocol powering perp frontends, complex debt pool model

Ribbon Finance reborn as an options/perps exchange on its own OP Stack rollup — technically capable but still proving itself post-pivot

Leading Synthetix-powered perps frontend — strong execution but entirely dependent on Synthetix infrastructure

DeFi's interest rate benchmark and swap protocol — fills a genuine gap in DeFi risk management, but the market for on-chain interest rate derivatives is still nascent and adoption is slow.

RabbitX delivers a fast perps trading experience using Starknet's ZK technology for settlement, but faces significant adoption challenges and intense competition in the crowded derivatives DEX space.

Leading on-chain options protocol with AMM-based pricing — technically elegant but constrained by the small size of DeFi options markets

Leveraged trading aggregator across perp DEXs — useful concept but low volume in a winner-take-most market.

Bybit-backed DEX perps on StarkEx — solid trading infrastructure with institutional support, competing in a Hyperliquid-dominated market.

Multi-asset perps on Arbitrum with up to 1000x leverage — wide asset selection and high leverage attract traders, but extreme leverage creates systemic risk.

Solana derivatives protocol with options + perps — solid tech on a fast chain, but competing against Hyperliquid and centralized platforms with deeper liquidity.

Prediction market infrastructure — powers multiple on-chain betting apps with strong backend design, growing volume, but regulatory risk and competition from Polymarket.

Money market-based perps — novel approach that synthesizes perpetual futures from lending positions, but complex and niche.

BNB Chain perps DEX with innovative risk tranches for LPs — solid design but limited adoption.

Arbitrum-based perps DEX with 100x leverage and VLP liquidity model — functional but facing stiff competition from larger platforms.

DeFi options pioneer and Squeeth creator — technically excellent power perpetual implementation but niche adoption, complex product, and uncertain long-term viability.

Options vaults on Optimism using Synthetix liquidity — functional but small in a crowded derivatives market.

Aptos perpetual futures DEX with up to 1000x leverage. Leverages Aptos's speed but faces adoption challenges on a smaller chain.

RWA perpetuals on Arbitrum — trade forex, gold, oil on-chain 24/7, bringing TradFi markets to DeFi in a genuinely innovative way.

vAMM pioneer that lost its edge — V2 struggled with adoption as the market moved to order books and oracle-based models

Delta-neutral vault protocol on Arbitrum — innovative structured product design but small TVL, strategy underperformance, and limited adoption.

On-chain sports betting and positional markets on Optimism — Overtime Markets found genuine adoption but small scale, regulatory risk, and competitive pressure from Polymarket.

Cross-chain derivatives protocol with perps, options, and power perpetuals — genuine multi-chain deployment and exotic products, but struggling for meaningful adoption against GMX and dYdX.

Pioneer DeFi options protocol — one of the first but now struggling with low volume and liquidity as newer competitors capture the on-chain options market.

DeFi derivatives primitive on Arbitrum — modular perpetual infrastructure backed by top VCs but limited adoption as both a base layer and trading venue.

zkSync smart wallet + futures DEX combo. Account abstraction features differentiate but zkSync's ecosystem challenges persist.

Multi-chain perps DEX with AI features. Operational on BNB Chain ecosystem with growing adoption but AI claims need verification.

Small Optimism perps DEX with oracle pricing — functional but lost in a sea of competitors.

Delta-neutral trading protocol for sustainable yield — interesting funding rate arbitrage concept but small scale and unproven long-term sustainability.

Automated options market maker on Arbitrum — sophisticated DHV design for on-chain options, but the DeFi options market remains stubbornly small.

Base-native leveraged trading protocol — competent oracle-based perpetuals but entering a crowded market where differentiation is difficult.

Trade positions on any data feed without counterparties — innovative mint/burn model eliminates LPs but introduces OVL inflation risk when traders collectively win.

Decentralized options AMM — tackles on-chain options with automated pricing, but extremely low adoption in a market where Deribit (CeFi) and a few DeFi protocols capture nearly all options volume.

DeFi catastrophe bonds for stablecoin depegs — innovative insurance-like protocol where users can hedge or speculate on stablecoin risk events.

Perpetual options with sqrt price model on Arbitrum — mathematically innovative but extremely niche, minimal adoption, and products too complex for most traders.

Crypto volatility index protocol — VIX-equivalent for BTC/ETH is conceptually valuable but negligible adoption, thin liquidity, and unproven market demand.

Crypto volatility index by COTI — VIX-style product for crypto with marginally more adoption than competitors but still negligible volume and unproven market demand.

Zero-fee perps on Arbitrum — innovative no-fee model but winding down operations, team ceased development, and the LP model proved unsustainable at scale.

Arbitrum options DEX with solid AMM pricing — technically interesting but on-chain options remain a niche that hasn't achieved meaningful adoption despite years of attempts.

GMX fork on Fantom — minimal innovation over the original, declining adoption alongside Fantom ecosystem contraction, and no meaningful competitive moat.

Oracle-based synthetic trading with leverage — zero price impact trades through oracle feeds, but declining adoption and LP sustainability concerns limit the platform.

Tezos synthetic assets platform — well-designed MakerDAO-style system, but synthetic stablecoins need DeFi ecosystems to absorb them, and Tezos has none.