Among the four giants in the Perp DEX track (Hyperliquid/edgeX/Aster/Lighter), edgeX, the last project that hasn't issued tokens, will finally welcome its TGE by the end of this month. Currently, $EDGE has landed on Binance pre-trading and been included in Coinbase's listing roadmap, which also means edgeX has become another project to achieve a CEX grand slam.

With $EDGE officially launching, the token issuance of the top four projects in the Perp DEX track will be fully completed. In my view, the real competition in the Perp DEX track in 2026 will formally begin from this point.

Previously, each project's point incentives and other "pie-drawing" phases have been fully implemented. The next competition will focus on core hard strengths such as market depth, trading experience, and product operations. Although Hyperliquid has occupied the leading position in current users and trading volume due to first-mover advantage, it's worth noting that Perp DEX users represent less than 5% of the entire cryptocurrency user base. The track is still in an early development stage, and any product or operational innovation could overturn the existing market structure.

From a data perspective, Perp DEX users, representing less than 5% of the user base, contribute 15% of perpetual futures market trading volume. This group is primarily composed of whales, professional traders, and institutions, while the vast majority of ordinary users still remain in an undeveloped state.

In terms of adaptability for ordinary investors, edgeX has achieved more thorough and comprehensive refinement in experience and convenience, which gives it significant advantages in subsequent new user acquisition and conversion:

On one hand, among the four Perp DEX giants, edgeX's App experience is arguably the best, while other projects like Hyperliquid still center on web platforms. Currently, track users are primarily professional traders, and web platforms sufficiently meet their needs, but when targeting ordinary users, the importance of the App becomes prominent——ordinary users are more accustomed to trading through Apps, and trading experience comparable to CEX is the primary threshold for attracting incremental users.

On the other hand, edgeX has created an extremely convenient one-stop trading ecosystem. Since late last year, both CEX and DEX have been promoting one-stop horizontal expansion, incorporating categories like US stocks and commodities to meet diverse user needs and increase user stickiness. edgeX's layout in this direction is the most thorough and has shown remarkable results. Beyond perpetual futures and spot trading, it has expanded to US stocks, commodities, and prediction markets. The completeness of its product matrix ranks first in the track, and related category trading volume performance is impressive: gold and silver 24-hour trading volume exceeds $650 million, a scale that not only surpasses most second-tier CEX but also ranks in the top five in the entire market (CEX+DEX).

For a long time, edgeX's trading volume has consistently ranked in the top three of the Perp DEX track. After token launch, the project will also initiate a treasury fund buyback plan. Currently its treasury fund scale reaches $192 million, of which approximately half (nearly $100 million) will be used for token buybacks. Whether $EDGE can replicate the buyback rally from HYPE and ASTER's initial launch——HYPE surged from $3 to $32 through buybacks, ASTER from $0.1 to $2.3, is worthy of market anticipation.

Regardless of short-term market performance, I maintain high expectations for the prospects of the Perp DEX track. It better aligns with the ideal form of cryptocurrency trading venues. Of course, in terms of usability and accessibility barriers, continuous iteration and optimization are still needed to accommodate a broader user base.
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