On-chain derivatives DEX Bullet goes live on the mainnet. How will Perp DEX reshape the trading landscape?

The crypto market in 2026 has welcomed a strong catalyst right at the start of the year. As decentralized finance infrastructure evolves, the on-chain derivatives sector is experiencing an unprecedented boom. On February 13th, the Solana ecosystem all-in-one trading platform Bullet announced that its perpetual contracts are officially live on the mainnet. Almost simultaneously, the decentralized derivatives protocol Extended announced the launch of US stock perpetual contracts, further bridging the gap between traditional assets and on-chain trading.

From Hyperliquid’s sudden rise to the high-performance architecture of emerging player Bullet, Perp DEX (decentralized perpetual contract exchanges) are quietly reshaping the trading landscape of crypto assets with advantages like low latency, non-custodial custody, and global accessibility. According to Delph Digital’s outlook, the market share of Perp DEX in derivatives has grown from about 2.1% at the beginning of 2023 to nearly 11.7% by the end of 2025, and is expected to surpass 25% in 2026.

Bullet Goes Live on Mainnet: Millisecond Response and “Trinity” Service

As the focal point of this sector’s heat, Bullet in the Solana ecosystem announced that its perpetual contracts are now live on the mainnet. Although access is currently limited to invite-only, the performance data released is enough to turn heads. Bullet’s underlying architecture, designed specifically for trading, claims to handle up to 30,000 orders per second with latency under 1 millisecond.

This data directly rivals—and in some cases surpasses—the performance levels of certain centralized exchanges (CEXs). Low latency is critical for derivatives trading, especially during volatile markets, where slippage and execution speed directly impact profits and losses. Bullet is not just a contract trading platform; it integrates derivatives, spot, and lending products within the same protocol, creating a “trinity” of one-stop services. This product matrix aims to maximize user capital efficiency by enabling collateralization, borrowing, and hedging within a single interface. Perp DEXs are attempting to retain users through this sticky, comprehensive service.

Extended Launches US Stock Perpetual Contracts: Breaking Asset Boundaries

If Bullet represents a performance upgrade, then Extended’s launch of US stock perpetual contracts signifies a breaking of asset boundaries. While crypto-native volatility remains the favorite playground for traders, the global appeal of traditional stocks like Tesla and the S&P 500 remains huge.

By bringing US stocks onto on-chain perpetual trading, Extended is effectively creating a global trading market without traditional brokers. Users don’t need to go through complex overseas securities account setups; they can directly long or short US stock indices or individual stocks with just a crypto wallet. This “marriage” of traditional assets and crypto significantly broadens the user base for on-chain derivatives, attracting those who want to participate in traditional markets using stablecoins.

Perp DEX Market Landscape: Hyperliquid Leads, Newcomers Catch Up

According to data from DefiLlama as of February 13, 2026, the current Perp DEX market shows a “one super, many strong” competitive pattern.

• Hyperliquid, with its self-built Layer 1 blockchain and order book model, remains at the top. Its 24-hour trading volume hits $6.56 billion, open interest reaches $4.97 billion, and total value locked (TVL) is $4.23 billion. Hyperliquid’s success proves the viability of on-chain order book models on high-performance chains.
• EdgeX performs impressively, surpassing Aster with a 24-hour volume of $3.03 billion, rising to second place.
• Other major players like Aster, Lighter, and Apex maintain daily trading volumes ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, keeping the market vibrant.

• Data source: DefiLlama, as of February 13, 2026

Technical Architecture Wars: How Will Trading Experience Be Reshaped?

To truly reshape the trading landscape, Perp DEXs must innovate in their technical architecture. Currently, three main models dominate:

1. Order Book Model: Represented by Hyperliquid, which builds a custom Layer 1 blockchain using HyperBFT consensus for ultra-fast matching. This approach closely resembles traditional financial trading, with high acceptance among professional traders.
2. AMM Model: Led by GMX, relying on liquidity pools (like GLP) as counterparty. Liquidity is easier to bootstrap, and users trade against the pool’s counterparties.
3. Hybrid Model: Exemplified by Drift, combining vAMM and off-chain order books to balance liquidity and trading depth.

With Bullet’s entry, Solana’s high-speed, low-cost features will further amplify the advantages of on-chain derivatives. Handling tens of thousands of orders per second is helping to erase user impressions of DEX lag and poor experience.

Reshaping the Landscape: The Three Core Advantages of Perp DEX

As more high-performance protocols launch, Perp DEXs are reshaping the trading landscape through three main aspects:

1. True Asset Sovereignty: In centralized exchanges like Gate, assets are held by the platform during contract trading. On Perp DEXs, traders retain control of their assets, interacting non-custodially within their wallets, greatly reducing risks of exchange hacks or exit scams.
2. Global Permissionless Access: Whether it’s Bullet’s millisecond response or Extended’s US stock contracts, Perp DEXs eliminate geographical and financial barriers. Anyone with an internet connection and a crypto wallet can access cutting-edge financial derivatives.
3. Composability and Innovation: On-chain trading enables programmability. Developers can build strategy libraries, automated hedging tools, or tokenize trading profits—capabilities that traditional CEXs cannot match, expanding the ecosystem’s potential.

Opportunities and Challenges Coexist

Despite the growth of Perp DEX market share from 2.1% in early 2023 to 11.7% by late 2025, fully “reshaping” the landscape still faces hurdles. Liquidity depth during extreme market conditions, smart contract security risks, and global regulatory uncertainties remain threats hanging over the sector.

However, the trend is clear. With Hyperliquid’s wealth creation effects and infrastructure projects like Bullet coming online, capital and users are visibly migrating to on-chain platforms.

Summary

As a bridge connecting users to the crypto world, Gate closely monitors the forefront of on-chain derivatives. Whether it’s the price discovery of Perp DEX tokens like Hyperliquid (HYPE) or the governance tokens of emerging protocols like EdgeX and Aster, Gate aims to provide users with timely, liquid trading environments.

As of February 14, HYPE trading pairs on Gate remain highly active, with responsive prices offering a reliable liquidity gateway for capturing the on-chain derivatives boom. As trading volumes from Perp DEXs spill over from centralized exchanges, early understanding and participation in this sector will be a key strategic move for crypto investors in 2026.

The future is here, just not yet mainstream. The explosion of on-chain derivatives may well be the decisive step for crypto finance to achieve sovereignty.