Key facts
- Pantera Capital sees perpetual futures as a dominant trading instrument, with blockchain infrastructure like Hyperliquid challenging traditional markets.
- Hyperliquid is expanding perpetual futures beyond cryptocurrencies to include equities, commodities, and stock indices.
- The growth of onchain perpetual futures has led to DEX perps volume reaching 14% of CEX perps volume.
- Hyperliquid holds about 40% of the onchain perpetual futures trading volume and is a top fee-generating protocol.
- Traditional finance players like ICE and NYSE are exploring blockchain wrappers for traditional assets and 24/7 trading.
Pantera Capital believes that perpetual futures, particularly those offered on decentralized exchanges like Hyperliquid, are set to become a dominant trading instrument in global finance. The asset manager highlighted in a recent X post that blockchain-based infrastructure offers significant advantages over traditional derivatives, including continuous 24/7 trading, absence of contract expiries, simplified position management, and ongoing price discovery. These features make them increasingly appealing for markets beyond cryptocurrencies.
As an investor in Hyperliquid, Pantera pointed to the platform as a leading example of this trend, noting its expansion of perpetual futures into asset classes such as equities, commodities, and stock indices, aligning with founder Jeff Yan's ambition to integrate all of finance onto the blockchain.
Hyperliquid's growth has attracted attention from traditional finance entities. Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the NYSE, has advocated for regulators to establish a "level playing field" for the introduction of 24/7 onchain perpetual futures contracts.
Pantera Capital reported that Hyperliquid has significantly increased the market share of onchain perpetual futures. Volumes for decentralized exchange (DEX) perpetual futures have risen to 14% of centralized exchange (CEX) perpetual futures volume, a substantial increase from less than 1% in early 2023 when Hyperliquid launched. Hyperliquid itself accounts for approximately 40% of the total onchain perpetual futures trading volume. Data from DefiLlama indicates that Hyperliquid ranks as the fourth-largest fee-generating protocol in the crypto industry, generating $13.5 million in weekly fees over the past seven days.
This trend of traditional finance embracing 24/7 markets and blockchain technology is evident in recent developments. OKX announced plans in May to launch perpetual futures based on ICE's Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude benchmarks through a partnership with ICE. Earlier in March, the NYSE collaborated with tokenization platform Securitize to develop blockchain-based stock trading infrastructure, aiming for 24/7 trading and settlement. In January, ICE itself revealed plans for a tokenized securities venue designed for round-the-clock trading, instant settlement, stablecoin funding, and onchain settlement.