Solana’s dominance in Layer 1 (L1) blockchain fees has taken a sharp dive in 2025. Earlier this year, Solana was responsible for over 50% of all L1 fees. Now, by late October, that share has dropped to just 9%. But this isn’t because Solana is dying — it’s still pulling in around $6.6 million in daily fees. The real reason? Traders and activity are moving to specialized blockchains that are better at handling certain types of trading, especially perpetual futures (perps).

Platforms like Hyperliquid are leading the charge. Hyperliquid is a blockchain built specifically for high-speed derivatives trading. It’s gained massive traction, with over $2.4 billion in total value locked (TVL) and more than $20 million in weekly revenue just from perps. With features like lightning-fast trade execution and open-access markets, Hyperliquid is attracting pro traders who want centralized exchange (CEX)-level speed but with the benefits of decentralization.

As a result, nearly $58 billion in weekly perp trading volume has shifted away from general-use chains like Solana. Other chains like BNB Chain are also benefiting, especially among Asian retail traders and gaming users. They’re soaking up the trading volume and memecoin action that once made Solana so hot earlier this year.

Solana’s early 2025 success was powered by memecoins (like Pump.fun) and NFT hype, especially leading up to the TRUMP token launch. But once that excitement cooled, so did some of the trading volume. Perps on Solana platforms like Jupiter and Drift still do well — around $1.7 billion in daily volume — but many traders are moving elsewhere for better trade execution and lower slippage.

Even though Solana still processes more transactions than Ethereum and all its Layer 2s combined — with over 2.13 million active addresses daily and super-low fees (less than $0.01 per transaction) — it hasn’t yet launched a killer perps app to bring back lost volume. Without a new hype cycle or must-use app, trading flows are staying spread across multiple chains.

To stay competitive, Solana developers are working on upgrades: better scalability, stablecoin support, improved validator infrastructure, and tools for institutions like BlackRock’s $1.2 billion tokenized fund. A native, high-quality perps DEX could help bring volume back and increase SOL token burns, since 50% of transaction fees are burned, helping deflation.

Big players still see potential in Solana — Bitwise’s Solana ETF charges a low 0.20% fee, showing confidence in future inflows. For users staying on Solana, smart choices include Jupiter (with recent fee changes for more balanced trades) or Drift (great for cross-margin trading). But if you’re after max efficiency and tight spreads, Hyperliquid offers 20x leverage on SOL pairs — just be aware of the risk of high volatility.

Perpetual futures are becoming the new favorite over memecoins, as platforms turn them into more engaging and gamified experiences. This marks a shift in crypto: instead of one blockchain dominating everything, we’re now in an era where each chain specializes in what it does best.

Meanwhile, Ethereum Layer 2s (L2s) have seen a massive boom in perpetual futures trading in 2025. These L2s offer low fees, fast speeds, and deep integration with DeFi protocols — all while inheriting Ethereum’s strong security. Arbitrum leads this space, handling over 40% of all L2 perp volume.

Altogether, Ethereum L2s account for about 25–30% of decentralized perps activity. This growth is mainly due to Ethereum mainnet’s high gas fees pushing traders to cheaper, faster alternatives with similar security and better user experience.

The entire decentralized perps market reached over $50 billion in daily volume during Q3 2025. While some of this is driven by short-term incentives like airdrops and rewards, sustained open interest (OI) on ETH and BTC pairs shows long-term trader interest.

These new platforms combine speed and security using hybrid models: off-chain orderbooks for fast trades and on-chain settlement for trustless execution. But they’re not risk-free — during “Red Monday,” $1.5 billion in long positions got liquidated due to sudden price drops and negative funding rates.

Arbitrum remains a powerhouse with $364 million in weekly perp volume and builders like Lighter ($11B traded) and Ostrich ($1B+). These projects use Orbit chains to scale further. Arbitrum also integrates with yield platforms like Pendle ($375M TVL), boosting profits on perps trades.

Base, built on Coinbase’s OP Stack with over $4 billion in TVL, is growing fast thanks to its easy interface and support for retail traders. Its DEX volume has hit $59 billion, with perps platforms like Avantis offering simple commands like “Open 2x long ETH.” Volume is up 35% month-over-month, helped by AI-powered trade routing.

Optimism (OP Mainnet) is also strong in the perps space with projects like Perpetual Protocol ($85M weekly volume) and Derive ($18B total volume). It supports high-frequency trading with up to 200K transactions per hour and ultra-fast data from Pyth oracles.

Polygon is making its mark through synthetic assets with around $1.5B volume. New entrants like Vooi are offering gasless cross-chain perps on Arbitrum, Base, and BNB Chain — a step toward making these tools more accessible to everyone.

Ethereum L2s now handle 10% of global crypto futures trading (up from 4.5% in 2024). Since 93% of all derivatives are perps, this segment is key. Networks are becoming more connected — many users bridge from Ethereum to Arbitrum seamlessly using wallets like Rainbow.

Massive campaigns like Aster’s “1001x leverage” draw attention but don’t always reflect real demand. Instead, open interest data shows where traders are really committing capital. Platforms like Derive ($500M OI) are even pulling in institutions.

New tech is helping too: chain abstraction (Vooi offers unified balances across L2s and Solana), AI agents (Elsa on Base), ZK proofs (Lighter), and more privacy tools to prevent front-running.

Synthetix plans to launch its own L1 perps later in 2025, but for now Ethereum L2s win on cost — with most fees under $0.01. Still, liquidations have jumped 35% during volatile periods, showing that leverage always comes with risk.

Multichain setups like Dexari allow easy swaps between ETH on mainnet to USDC on Arbitrum without needing risky bridges. These improvements mean you can now trade leveraged perps in DeFi with almost no custodial risk.

Start on Arbitrum for deep liquidity (try Lighter if you’re experienced), or use Base if you prefer ease of use (Avantis is great for casual degen trades with up to 500x leverage). Incentives like Arbitrum’s DRIP airdrop (24M ARB) or Base’s EP V2 points system could push volumes even higher.

As Ethereum L2s handle more than 200K transactions an hour, they’re reclaiming market share from Solana — expect monthly perp volume to hit $100B+ if market volatility increases again.