# ReDeFining DeFi, 301020 *Derivatives Trading* By [Coin Kotei](https://paragraph.com/@coinkotei) · 2024-12-18 defi, perps --- Let's continue the series with the derivatives trading sub-sector, which is closely related to 301010, decentralised exchanges, but strongly focused on derivatives and/or specifically perpetuals, not solely on spot trading. **_301020, Derivatives Trading _Definition**: Platforms facilitating the creation and trading of derivatives like options, perpetual futures, and synthetic assets. The combined sub-sector Market Cap stands at $13,459m as of 16/12/2024, up c. 116% from $6,231m as of 01/01/2024, compared to c. 125% growth in the total crypto Market Cap over the course of 2024. Notably, eight of the tokens included below have not been trading in January 2024, with three of them only on the market for a few weeks, so their base values are the most recent ones available. Without $HYPE and its $6b+ value creation in December, the sub-sector would've only seen c. 34% growth YTD. Below is the proposed composition of the 301020 sub-sector, from largest to smallest by market cap, having reviewed 250+ projects over the course of the past week from both the context-of-use and exchange accessibility perspectives: 1. **$HYPE** A decentralised perpetual futures exchange with an order book model, also an L1, limited exchange availability, but so far unlimited hype **Market Cap:** $8,029m **YTD:** +269% (from 29/11/24) 2. **$DYDX** A leading decentralised derivatives exchange specialising in perpetual contracts, clearly used to define this sub-sector, ETHDYDX migration is ongoing **Market Cap:** $1,557m **YTD:** +40% 3. **$PENDLE** Tokenises and enables trading of future yield, effectively creating yield-based derivatives markets **Market Cap:** $1,016m **YTD:** +782% 4. **$SNX** Provides synthetic assets and facilitates decentralised derivatives trading and a native exchange **Market Cap:** $1,008m **YTD:** -20% 5. **$AEVO** A decentralised options and perpetual trading L2 protocol for crypto derivatives, merged with Ribbon Finance ($RBN) **Market Cap:** $461m **YTD:** +30% (from 13/03/24) 6. **$GMX** A decentralised perpetual futures and spot exchange on Arbitrum and Avalanche **Market Cap:** $377m **YTD:** -27% 7. **$DRIFT** A perpetual futures exchange on Solana, exploring prediction markets too **Market Cap:** $349m **YTD:** +503% (from 18/05/24) 8. **$BLUE** Offers decentralised perpetual futures trading on Sui **Market Cap:** $114m **YTD:** +116% (from 12/12/24) 9. **$APEX** Enables decentralised perpetual contracts trading with leverage and cross-chain compatibility **Market Cap:** $95m **YTD:** +576% 10. **$OX** A perpetuals exchange focused on meme coins **Market Cap:** $91m **YTD:** +100% (from 26/03/24) 11. **$F** A decentralised derivatives platform enabling futures trading on customisable assets on Base **Market Cap:** $89m **YTD:** -30% (from 06/12/24) 12. **$GNS** Enables leveraged trading of synthetic derivatives **Market Cap:** $82m **YTD:** -51% 13. **$PERP** Allows trading of perpetual futures contracts on Optimism **Market Cap:** $77m **YTD:** -7% 14. **$FUL** A decentralised perpetual futures exchange on Cronos **Market Cap:** $26m **YTD:** +17% 15. **$HEGIC** A decentralised protocol for trading peer-to-pool on Arbitrum **Market Cap:** $22m **YTD:** -30% 16. **$CTX** Offers synthetic derivatives trading, builds indexes offering **Market Cap:** $22m **YTD:** +77% **$KWENTA - migrating into $SNX** A front-end for trading perpetual contracts on Synthetix, built on Base _Migrating into $SNX tokens, so a quick shout-out to them here before being excluded not to be double-accounted for moving forward as Synthentix Exchange_ **Market Cap:** $18m **YTD:** -71% 17. **$ZEX** Provides options and futures trading on Solana **Market Cap:** $17m **YTD:** +93% (from 04/07/24) 18. **$NUTS** A decentralised on-chain options protocol **Market Cap:** $7m **YTD:** -47% (from 21/05/24) 19. **$DERI** Decentralised derivatives L3 protocol **Market Cap:** $3m **YTD:** +8% Let us also explore what the composition of the sub-sector looks like as of today as we prepare for a longer-form analysis of the 2024 performance for this and the other DeFi sub-sectors in search of fundamental indicators of outperformance and underperformance alike. ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/e2ae22223840502622b93dadab4154ff.png) 301020 Derivatives Trading as of 16/12/2024 There have been notable changes and movements since the start of this year, particularly for newcomers $PENDLE, $DRIFT and $APEX. $HYPE now comfortably maintains and extends its dominance of the sub-sector to arguably outgrow it altogether. Curious drop in value for $SNX and $GMX, long-standing players in the space, and a surprisingly underwhelming year for most others who have been around and trading since at least early 2023. We will explore various possible reasons for such outcomes in the 2024 DeFi Report. Now, onto the next sub-sector classification, hopefully ready before Christmas – 301030 Decentralised Lending, which is the sole reason I got into researching DeFi back in Summer 2020 and technically never left. * * * Sources: * [https://coinmetrics.io/datonomy/](https://coinmetrics.io/datonomy/) * [https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-180](https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-180) * [https://coinmetrics.io/special-insights/trusted-exchange-framework/](https://coinmetrics.io/special-insights/trusted-exchange-framework/) * [https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/decentralized-derivatives](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/decentralized-derivatives) * [https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/decentralized-perpetuals](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/decentralized-perpetuals) * Coin Kotei Analysis --- *Originally published on [Coin Kotei](https://paragraph.com/@coinkotei/redefining-defi-301020)*