CoinDesk
Decentralized perpetual futures have grown into one of crypto's most demanding use cases, and the venues where traders now execute are no longer Ethereum mainnet. Most of the activity sits on layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and Base, on Solana, and on purpose-built chains such as Hyperliquid, where block times and fees can sustain the thousands of rapid-fire liquidations, funding payments, and order updates that perpetuals require.
Ethereum's security-first architecture made it a strong settlement layer but historically an expensive one for latency-sensitive trading. When GMX launched on Arbitrum in 2021, mainnet fees were prohibitively high for active books, and Offchain Labs leaned into perpetuals as a strategic category. The pattern repeated on Base, where Aerodrome built a spot DEX designed to feed liquidity into the perps that sit on top of it.
Why it matters
Crypto's perps sector is graduating from a crypto-native product into a market institutions are starting to evaluate. Offchain Labs' AJ Warner, the Jito Foundation's Brian Smith, and Dromos Labs' Chris Boulous all frame the shift as a division of labor rather than a defeat: Ethereum can remain the deepest place to settle and source collateral even when it is not the fastest place to trade. MetaMask's Matthieu Saint Olive argues the framing of competition is the wrong lens, pointing to Ethereum's stablecoin depth and DeFi primitives as the assets the high-throughput chains depend on.
The risk for Ethereum is fragmentation. Its layer-2 roadmap dispersed users and liquidity across Arbitrum, Base, and other rollups, forcing traders to bridge assets between venues. Vitalik Buterin earlier this year acknowledged the original layer-2 vision "no longer makes sense" the way it was sold, given how slowly the rollups have decentralized and how much more scalable the base layer itself has become.
Market impact
The execution tier has already split off. Solana and Hyperliquid hold the retail-momentum and single-chain liquidity advantage; Arbitrum and Base carry the bulk of Ethereum-aligned perps volume. The question for the next leg is whether Ethereum can consolidate settlement, collateral, and stablecoin flows across its L2s tightly enough to keep institutions from routing around the base layer entirely. If it can, perps become a customer of Ethereum rather than a competitor to it. If it cannot, the deepest pool of onchain liquidity risks sitting one bridge away from where the trades actually print.
Frequently asked questions
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Why are most crypto perpetuals no longer on Ethereum mainnet?
Perpetuals demand thousands of rapid-fire updates, liquidations, and order executions at low cost. Ethereum's security-first architecture makes it a strong settlement layer but historically too slow and expensive for latency-sensitive trading, pushing volume onto Arbitrum, Base, Solana, and Hyperliquid.
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What role is Ethereum taking in the perpetuals market?
Ethereum is increasingly positioning itself as the settlement and collateral layer underneath perpetuals, while execution migrates to faster layer-2 networks and purpose-built chains. MetaMask's Matthieu Saint Olive frames it as a division of labor rather than a defeat.
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Which chains now host the most decentralized perpetual futures volume?
Arbitrum and Base carry most Ethereum-aligned perps activity after GMX launched on Arbitrum in 2021. Solana holds the retail flow advantage, and Hyperliquid runs an application-specific chain optimized almost entirely for perps trading.
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What is the biggest risk to Ethereum's perpetuals strategy?
Fragmentation across its layer-2 ecosystem. Arbitrum, Base, and other rollups disperse users and liquidity, forcing traders to bridge assets. Vitalik Buterin earlier this year acknowledged the original L2 roadmap no longer makes sense the way it was sold.
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How are institutions approaching onchain perpetuals?
Offchain Labs' AJ Warner says institutions want deeper liquidity, more efficient capital use, cross-margining, and the ability to trade across venues without leaving large amounts of capital idle. MetaMask's Matthieu Saint Olive argues execution, custody, and predictability will decide it, not ideology.
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