Crypto open interest has cratered more than 50% from its peak, falling from $210 billion on October 7, 2025 to $99.09 billion by April 2026. The crash, triggered by the October 10, 2025 liquidation event, has reshaped trading across both centralized and decentralized exchanges. While centralized venues saw volumes slump by a third, perpetual DEXs are quietly taking a bigger slice of the pie — their share of open interest hitting 13.5% by the end of April.
Open interest halved from peak
The numbers are stark. After hitting a high of $210 billion in early October last year, the market's total open interest has been cut in half. That's a bigger drop than what's happened to trading volume on centralized exchanges, which fell about 34% from the 2025 average. The top 11 perpetual CEXs handled $7.11 trillion a month last year; in the first four months of 2026, that's down to $4.69 trillion. But not all exchanges are hurting equally — MEXC has been the most aggressive, adding 879 new perpetual contracts since January 2025, while BingX added 565.
CEX volumes slump, Binance holds 33%
Binance still runs the show among centralized perpetual exchanges, holding 33% of market share in early 2026. OKX is far behind at 15%. But the overall pie is shrinking fast. The October 10 liquidation event — which wiped out billions in positions — seems to have permanently dented leverage appetite on CEXs. Their share of open interest dropped from 96.4% at the start of 2025 to 86.5% by April 2026. That's a lot of ground lost in just over a year.
Perpetual DEXs gain ground
Meanwhile, decentralized perpetual exchanges are having a moment. Total perp DEX volume hit $6.38 trillion in 2025, up from $1.50 trillion in 2024. That momentum carried into 2026: the top 12 perp DEXs averaged $611.57 billion in monthly volume in 2026, versus $531.65 billion in 2025. Hyperliquid processed $190.28 billion in April alone — putting it close to BingX and ahead of KuCoin. Not bad for a DEX.
Newer platforms rise on points programs
Newer DEXs like Pacifica, Extended, and Variational have been taking share from older platforms. Their secret? Points programs, which reward users for trading and liquidity provision. It's a playbook that worked for Hyperliquid early on, and now a new crop is following suit. With CEXs still licking their wounds from the October crash, the timing couldn't be better for these upstarts.
The shift isn't complete — CEXs still hold 86.5% of open interest. But the trajectory is clear. The next few months will show whether DEXs can keep up the pace, or if the October hangover finally fades.
