The story of perp DEXs is best told in 7 distinct phases — a timeline of dominance, disruption, and the rise of a new king:

1. Early–Mid 2021: @dYdX Dominance

Perp DEX = dYdX. No real challengers. Deep liquidity, strong PMF, and the only game in town.

2. Late 2021: @GMX_IO Appears

GMX v1 entered with an oracle-based model and a community-first ethos. Still tiny vs dYdX, but it proved new models could work.

3. 2022: Market Starts Fragmenting

@GainsNetwork_io, @synthetix_io, and others began attracting niche users. dYdX’s monopoly was intact, but the moat showed cracks.

4. Early 2023: @HyperliquidX Arrives

A quiet entrant with serious momentum. Product velocity + incentives helped it quickly carve out share from both dYdX and GMX.

5. June 2023: A Brief Pullback

Hyperliquid’s share dipped to less than 2%. A blip, not a bust. The retreat was temporary.

6. June 2023–Dec 2024: The Climb

Hyperliquid steadily rebuilt, volume growing month after month. By late 2024, it had leapfrogged everyone. @JupiterExchange also managed to gain some marketshare against the others.

7. Jan 2025 to current: Hyperliquid Dominates

Hyperliquid now commands the perp DEX market with more than 80% marketshare in May 2025. dYdX v4, ApeX, and others still trade—but the race isn’t close anymore.