Sui Network Perp DEX Overview: What Sets the Four Protocols Apart?
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Sui Network Perp DEX Overview: What Sets the Four Protocols Apart?
To attract traders to shift toward Sui network's Perp DEX, more than just technical innovation may be needed—perhaps highly appealing incentives are the key.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: 0xShinChan, Crypto KOL
Translation: Felix, PANews
The post-FTX era has fundamentally reshaped the trading landscape, driving a surge of users toward decentralized perpetual contract exchanges (Perp DEXs). With daily trading volumes now routinely exceeding $30 billion, it's clear that demand for decentralized derivatives is substantial.
However, early Perp DEXs were often hindered by fragmentation, with usability issues in UI/UX, shallow liquidity, and unreliable price feeds limiting broader adoption. Starting in 2024, the market began to shift, marked by innovative models like GMX PVP and dYdX’s order book system. Today, teams building lending, DEX, and yield trading protocols on Sui Network are expanding their offerings to include perpetual contracts.
Sui’s Advantages in Perp DEX
Sui offers several compelling features that position it as a strong contender for building Perp DEXs.
-
High Performance, Low Latency: Sui’s parallel transaction processing enables high throughput and low latency, which are critical for efficient order matching and smooth trading experiences on DEXs.
-
Object-Centric Data Model: Sui’s unique data model supports efficient storage and parallel processing of account and asset data.
-
zkLogin for Seamless Onboarding: The zkLogin feature simplifies user onboarding by allowing accounts to be created using familiar Web2 credentials, reducing entry barriers for new traders.
Sponsored Transactions: Sui’s sponsored transaction functionality reduces user costs and enhances the overall trading experience.
Here are some of Sui’s early builders:
-
Bluefin
-
Astros powered by NAVI Protocol
-
Aftermath Finance
-
Typus Finance GLP trading model
Kriya is also preparing to launch its Perp DEX.
Before diving into each one, here is an overall comparison table.
Below, we compare and analyze each protocol, examining their trading features, protocol mechanisms, and performance.
Bluefin
As a veteran Perp DEX on Sui, Bluefin combines a fast off-chain order book with a secure on-chain settlement engine. Liquidity is managed by professional market makers (MMs):
Leveraging Sui’s parallel transaction processing, Bluefin achieves extremely low order execution latency and rapid on-chain finality (under 500 milliseconds). Additionally, it supports nearly all perpetual assets on Sui, offering the broadest coverage, including $DEEP, $WAL, and $TRUMP.
-
Bluefin’s 24-hour perpetual trading volume ranges between $40 million and $70 million, indicating high platform activity.
-
The BTC-PERP pair typically accounts for the largest share of daily volume (around 60%), followed by SUI-PERP and ETH-PERP.
-
According to Defi Llama, annual fees generated are approximately $4 million.
Excellent UI/UX. Users can utilize the trading view feature, which provides a clean interface containing everything needed. Notably, Bluefin’s zkLogin integration is supported by Sui, simplifying onboarding and eliminating wallet and seed phrase complexity.
Aftermath (Testnet)
Aftermath launched its Perp DEX testnet in November 2024. It operates entirely on-chain—unlike many Perp DEXs relying on off-chain order book matching, Aftermath places the entire order book on-chain. As it remains on testnet, available statistics are limited.
Aftermath is currently focused on improving liquidity/TVL for its DEX and existing pools. Potential incentives or the official launch of its Perp DEX may come later.
Astros (Beta)
Astros is a DEX aggregator + Perp DEX built by the NAVI Protocol team. Like Bluefin and Aftermath, NAVI Protocol employs an order book mechanism in its Perp DEX. Currently in testing, details about partnered market makers (MMs) and specific mechanisms remain unclear. Its 24-hour trading volume has reached $300 million, likely driven by an ongoing trader incentive program.
Typus Perp
Typus Finance launched its GMX-style Perp DEX about two weeks ago. According to Defi Llama, its 24-hour trading volume is around $200,000, with TVL in the TLP pool exceeding $700,000.
Assets in the TLP pool include $SUI, $USDC, $DEEP, and $LBTC, with APR currently above 100%.
Some Observations and Conclusions
The Rise of Order Books: The Perp DEX ecosystem on Sui currently shows a clear preference for order book models, evident both in protocol design choices and their dominance in trading volume. This suggests that either the order book mechanism has inherent suitability within Sui’s architecture, or it has achieved market validation among its user base.
Asset Scarcity and the Allure of Memes: The range of assets supported by Perp DEXs on Sui is notably limited, representing a potential opportunity. A protocol that quickly embraces the volatile yet lucrative memecoin trading space—a culture already taking root on Sui—could leverage the inherent speculation of these assets to drive up platform trading volume.
Early Stage and the Need for Incentives: Compared to mature and highly liquid Perp DEX ecosystems on EVM and Solana chains, Sui’s cumulative trading volume and TVL remain in the early stages. Given the existing feature sets and capabilities on competing chains, attracting traders to Sui-based Perp DEXs may require more than just technical innovation—highly attractive incentive programs might be the key catalyst needed to draw speculative capital and drive significant growth in the Perp DEX ecosystem.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
@0xShinChannn
