Crypto perpetuals surge from $15 billion to $250 billion in three months, according to CryptoQuant

Who would have thought! In just three months, a new segment of the crypto market has multiplied its volume by 17. According to CryptoQuant, the monthly volume of crypto perpetuals on exchanges has indeed exploded from $15 billion to $250 billion between April and July 2026. Binance dominates with 76% of the market, while Gate records the highest growth (+308%). AI and semiconductor stocks account for the bulk of the volumes.

In brief

• The monthly volume of crypto perpetuals on exchanges increased from about $15 billion in April to nearly $250 billion in July 2026, according to CryptoQuant.
• Binance alone captures 76% of this market, with about $193 billion in volume traded in a month.
• Gate shows the fastest growth in the sector, with a jump of 308% between June and July.
• Assets related to semiconductors and artificial intelligence concentrate the bulk of the trades.
• This phenomenon is part of a broader trend.

According to a report published on August 13, 2026, by the analysis firm CryptoQuant, the monthly volume of crypto perpetuals on major exchanges rose from about $15 billion in April to nearly $250 billion in July. This is a 17-fold increase in just three months and a 56% increase just between June and July.

These derivatives allow traders to gain exposure to publicly traded stocks without going through the traditional hours of Wall Street. But that's not all! Unlike a traditional future, a crypto perpetual contract also has no expiration date. It is maintained through a periodic funding mechanism that aligns its price with that of the underlying asset.

As a result, crypto exchanges are becoming trading floors open 24 hours a day, including when U.S. stock markets are closed.

The research team at CryptoQuant summarizes the facts well in its report from August 13:

This expansion transforms crypto exchanges into permanent marketplaces for contracts linked to traditional stocks.

This reinforces the ambition expressed by several crypto platforms: to become "everything exchanges," capable of housing cryptocurrencies, stocks, and commodities in a single account.

In this new segment of the crypto market, one player dominates the discussions: Binance. The platform processed about $193 billion in volume in July. This represents 76% of the total market for crypto perpetuals. Such a level of concentration recalls Binance's dominant position in the broader crypto derivatives market!

Behind the leader, the hierarchy tightens. Bitfer, Bybit, and Gate follow at a good distance, but their growth dynamics are more striking than their absolute market shares.

• Gate saw its volume of crypto perpetuals grow by 308% between June and July.
• Bybit and Binance's volumes were 176% and only 59%, respectively.

The crypto exchange Gate has recorded continuous monthly growth since May. This is a signal that analysts are closely monitoring. That's not all! The concentration also reaches new heights. SanDisk and SK Hynix alone account for 53% of the total volume of crypto perpetuals traded by the crypto platform last month. This figure illustrates how dependent this young market remains on a handful of tech stocks.

Beyond the overall numbers, the composition of the market deserves careful examination. Trades remain concentrated on a limited number of tech and semiconductor-related assets. SanDisk, SK Hynix, Micron, and the leveraged ETF SOXL form what analysts call the "AI-memory complex." This is a set of stocks directly exposed to the demand for chips for artificial intelligence.

Additional data published by CryptoRank provides further insight:

• SpaceX generated $84.6 billion in volume over 90 days. It even outpaces Solana (SOL), which totaled $77 billion during the same period.
• SK Hynix recorded $31.1 billion.

Bitcoin remains the dominant crypto asset with $543 billion in volume. It is ahead of Ethereum ($246 billion) and Hyperliquid ($93.6 billion).

Analysis: non-crypto assets account for about 17% of the cumulative volume of the ten largest perpetual contracts in the market.

To properly assess the significance of this growth, it must be placed in a broader context. According to data from CoinGecko, crypto exchanges processed $1.32 trillion in perpetuals backed by traditional assets during the first five months of 2026, compared to only $104.21 billion for the entire year of 2025. The monthly volume thus rose from $230 million in January 2025 to $347.17 billion in May 2026.

Another indicator to watch: open interest, which refers to the outstanding amount on these contracts. According to another report from CryptoQuant, the open interest of perpetuals backed by traditional assets doubled to exceed $2 billion in July, compared to $350 to $500 million in the spring.

However, this figure remains marginal. The fact is that this segment represents only about 3% of the $65 billion in total open interest in the crypto derivatives market. Moreover, these volumes (as spectacular as they may be) remain tiny compared to traditional stock markets.

In any case, the explosion of crypto perpetuals marks a turning point in the convergence between traditional finance and crypto. It remains to be seen whether it will withstand a market shock or if it will be limited to a few trendy tech stocks.

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