Five-Month Cooling in Onchain Perp DEX Volume
Onchain perpetual futures trading has been cooling for five consecutive months since the October 2025 peak. According to DefiLlama data, perp volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) fell to 699 billion dollars in March 2026, a significant drop compared to the 1.36 trillion dollar peak in October. This decline began in November and December and continued into the first quarter of 2026. Softening was also observed in daily activity; on April 4, perp DEX volume dropped to 8.4 billion dollars, falling below 10 billion dollars for the first time since September 6, 2025, and marking the lowest level since July 5, 2025. Decreasing market volatility and liquidity withdrawal are driving this trend.
Perpetuals DEX monthly trading volumes. Source: DefiLlama
Leading Perp DEXs: Hyperliquid and ApeX Protocol
In the last 30 days, Hyperliquid leads among perp DEXs with 185.5 billion dollars in volume, accounting for about 34% of the total volume of the top 10 platforms. It was followed by edgeX with 73 billion and Aster with 68 billion dollars; Lighter with approximately 50 billion, Grvt with 40 billion, ApeX Protocol detailed analysis, Variational, and StandX recorded volumes between 16-33 billion dollars. In 2025, perp DEXs raised their cumulative volume to 12.09 trillion dollars; of this, 7.9 trillion dollars (65%) belonged solely to that year, approaching a monthly average of 1 trillion dollars in the fourth quarter. ApeX maintains its stable position in futures volume.
APEX Token Technical Outlook (April 06, 2026)
APEX price at $0.00 level, 24h change +0.00%. RSI 45.80 (neutral), overall trend downtrend and Supertrend bearish. EMA 20: $0.2727. Supports:
- S1: $0.2587 (Score: 70/100 ⭐ STRONG, -4.57% distance)
- S2: $0.2661 (65/100 ⭐ STRONG, -1.84%)
- S3: $0.1736
Resistances:
- R1: $0.2722 (63/100 ⭐ STRONG, +0.41%)
- R2: $0.2941 (58/100 moderate, +8.48%)
APEX may test S1 support in the short term.
Source: https://en.coinotag.com/perp-dex-volume-in-decline-apex-protocol-analysis
