How can a Perp DEX survive a false boom cycle?
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
How can a Perp DEX survive a false boom cycle?
Should we continue the "one-click chain deployment" race and intensify internal competition, or truly address user pain points to build differentiation?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Haotian
Some insights on the future evolution of perp DEXs:
1) The "numbers game" of farming trading volume for airdrop expectations is not sustainable.
If most users are only here to farm volume (wash trading) for anticipated airdrops rather than genuinely using the product, and if professional arbitrageurs low-costly capture most of the incentive budget, and if projects quietly or actively allow or even encourage such behaviors just to make metrics look good,
then over time the entire points system becomes an expectation-driven game detached from real value creation—and eventually, the bubble will burst.
2) Ultra-low fee wars between platforms involve hidden costs paid by users.
Intense competition among platforms compresses their "revenue models" to the extreme. But what exactly is the break-even point for capturing value with zero fees? If seemingly "zero-fee" trading actually extracts value through liquidation penalties, funding rates, or other less visible or overlooked aspects, then this approach is short-lived and unsustainable.
Either you become like Robinhood, selling PFOF to market makers, or you evolve into a value-added service broker—both require long-term product iteration and real capabilities to succeed.
3) The CLOB-led perp DEX boom remains an on-chain echo chamber.
Perp DEXs aren't new, but this current wave of trillion-dollar-level artificial growth is largely driven by Crypto Native assets like BTC and ETH. As TradFi assets migrate on-chain—such as equities, forex, and commodities with genuine demand—the CLOB-based fully on-chain order book model may no longer be effective. Instead, Oracle or RFQ models could prove more efficient.
The question arises: Who is truly creating value—those strategically positioning for traditional asset onboarding, or those spending $100k buying CLOB Dex code just to launch incentive wars?
4) High valuations propped up by black-box execution layers cannot be effectively validated.
While some perp DEXs claim differentiation, massive trading data paired with concealed, opaque technology does not justify high valuations. If users don’t understand how orders are processed, where liquidity comes from, or how prices are formed, and if so-called "optimal execution" actually profits from user MEV or information asymmetry, then this is not a real technological moat.
Using zk proofs to verify logic is correct in theory, but real-time order tracking, order data metrics, and technical methods must withstand market scrutiny.
5) Perp DEX-as-a-Service will dilute the overall value of the sector.
If everyone runs CLOBs, supports similar trading pairs, uses maker/taker fees, and implements points systems, and the only differences are slightly better UI, higher airdrop expectations, or louder KOL shilling, then over time the total value of the Perp DEX space will be severely diluted.
Will teams continue launching chains with one-click deployments and deepen the race to the bottom, or will they focus on solving real user pain points and building true differentiation? The former leads only to a death spiral for the sector; the latter offers the only path toward building genuinely valuable projects.
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
Haotian | CryptoInsight
