# How perp DEX farming tricks you into losing money By [Stack Signal](https://paragraph.com/@stacksignal) · 2025-11-14 --- I’ve stopped farming perp DEXes, and maybe you should too. ========================================================== Every airdrop post will have at least one mention of a perp DEX, and it gets tiring. While it has overtaken the entire meta, I still don’t have the motivation to continue trading on them. If you’re a bad trader (like me), it’s time to skip it and look for another opportunity: * * * There’s so much that we don’t understand ---------------------------------------- Perps is a completely different ball game than just holding spot tokens. It’s not just adding leverage to trading, there are many new mechanisms that we need to understand, including: * Funding rates * Auto-deleveraging (ADL) * Maintenance margin Everything seems fine during normal market conditions without extreme volatility. But the Oct 11 crash showed me how things start to break in these extreme scenarios: * SLs didn’t trigger because there wasn’t liquidity [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/d39575a61eeb6ecb95ae52389e1d04b0cc21c7656784bb163a2bb3b84701e12a.jpg)](https://twitter.com/blaziken007) [ØxBlaziken](https://twitter.com/blaziken007) [@blaziken007](https://twitter.com/blaziken007) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/blaziken007/status/1977026007002693856) Agreed. Even putting SL in these crashes will do you no good. Hardly triggers. [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 1](https://twitter.com/blaziken007/status/1977026007002693856)[ 22:58 • 11 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/blaziken007/status/1977026007002693856) * Positions getting liquidated, even at 2x leverage [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/78af0eb600aa47260e28a060cb2896388f00f2857798ba732223526783f8008f.jpg)](https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho) [Wizard Of SoHo (🍷,🍷)](https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho) [@wizardofsoho](https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho/status/1976966865860612487) Even the most conservative traders I know got their trading accounts wiped out. I know someone who had 2x on fartcoin that he bought in April dump at like 0.3ish rode it to 2 … then rebought Eveyrhiht at 0.5 … got fully liquidated Another mega conservative guy had Pengu at [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 836](https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho/status/1976966865860612487)[ 19:03 • 11 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho/status/1976966865860612487) * Cross margin wiped out the portfolios of many traders [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/0f26b0fcd9d067a352f09dd31cc391a9cdaa31f8ffd3c644fcd058479d3b6321.jpg)](https://twitter.com/TheWhiteWhaleV2) [The White Whale](https://twitter.com/TheWhiteWhaleV2) [@TheWhiteWhaleV2](https://twitter.com/TheWhiteWhaleV2) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/TheWhiteWhaleV2/status/1977055646760546551) A Post-Crash Pilot Debrief from The White Whale $62M - gone in a flash. But as was repeatedly pounded into my head in pilot training: any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. As I’ve been processing yesterday’s events, I want to share a few thoughts from a place ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/81861d2226368febb15841f693d77b9b3bc171e0a51efcb37dca30f07fe92403.jpg) [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 5,936](https://twitter.com/TheWhiteWhaleV2/status/1977055646760546551)[ 0:56 • 12 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/TheWhiteWhaleV2/status/1977055646760546551) All the protection measures kicked in, which triggered a liquidation cascade (even without a major dump). _I’m_ [_grateful_](https://x.com/fipcrypto/status/1977377630761738397) _that I didn’t have any positions open during this period, as it would have caused considerable stress._ Even experienced traders were liquidated during the crash, which shows how unpredictable it can be. [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/72b78169790c2d8930cb387ffaca7d957eb3f0747d06030f00e11666ff84c710.jpg)](https://twitter.com/edison0xyz) [Edison](https://twitter.com/edison0xyz) [@edison0xyz](https://twitter.com/edison0xyz) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/edison0xyz/status/1977041593032163817) I'm one of the 1,000 wallets. Perps comes with its risks. I've been trading perps for more than 3 years now, but I still got liquidated. Don't put all your funds into perp acct. You can't win if you don't bet, but you can't bet if you lose everything. [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/e0254e83c56c31202a90c9052ab3caef76802ea71138f995758687ca2ce4b2eb.jpg)](https://twitter.com/lookonchain) [Lookonchain](https://twitter.com/lookonchain) [@lookonchain](https://twitter.com/lookonchain) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/lookonchain/status/1977006597085053039) More than 1,000 wallets on [#Hyperliquid](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hyperliquid) were completely wiped out in the market crash — losing everything. In total, 6,300+ wallets are in the red, with combined losses exceeding $1.23B. 205 wallets lost over $1M 1,070+ wallets lost over $100K Data based on Hyperliquid ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/9e894a84e1d5fc7272350982af340238bd50548fc5270fdc391c31cd7dd5a3c7.jpg) [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 213](https://twitter.com/edison0xyz/status/1977041593032163817)[ 0:00 • 12 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/edison0xyz/status/1977041593032163817) And the reason why we’re taking more risks than we’re comfortable with is because of this: * * * Trading with leverage is normalised ----------------------------------- I remember how many risk assessments I had to go through before I could trade options on a stock exchange. It was so tedious, and I didn’t feel like trading it even when I was approved. But crypto has made leverage so accessible, as long as you have a wallet: Immediate access to trading up to 40x leverage, which preys on our gambling tendencies. We have access to larger capital than we actually have, which sounds great in theory because we can make good returns, even when starting out from almost nothing. But at the same time, leverage amplifies our losses, and we can lose our entire portfolio on a perp DEX. [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/8d83869d5937ba7c6b73e461a20e7dee61ecbfe97f480ad47f5896abc576a32d.jpg)](https://twitter.com/pizzacrypt) [Breaking Pizza](https://twitter.com/pizzacrypt) [@pizzacrypt](https://twitter.com/pizzacrypt) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/pizzacrypt/status/1977414800776056973) Even experienced traders don't use much leverage. People have been fed stories that someone got rich with 1 trade and hence many do trade on max leverage without understanding that even 20% dip can be so dangerous [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 2](https://twitter.com/pizzacrypt/status/1977414800776056973)[ 0:43 • 13 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/pizzacrypt/status/1977414800776056973) Leveraged trading has become so mainstream that we look ‘stupid’ for not using it. Especially when everyone else is making good returns. [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/b3073e5c15d1c42f232486295d1e5cfe0c14c96ba88dce5fcbfd6634c2147199.png)](https://twitter.com/maverick23NFT) [maverick](https://twitter.com/maverick23NFT) [@maverick23NFT](https://twitter.com/maverick23NFT) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/maverick23NFT/status/1977021542665273802) the proliferation of perp dexes had normalized leverage to such a degree that many beginners take it to be harmless and that they’re “him” aka trading gods met so many at token and all they wanted to talk about was farming perp dexes last night crash proves that the majority [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 144](https://twitter.com/maverick23NFT/status/1977021542665273802)[ 22:40 • 11 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/maverick23NFT/status/1977021542665273802) We’ve been conditioned to think that it’s so easy to get a 10x or 100x trade in crypto. Especially when everyone flexes their PnLs to trigger dopamine responses in the rest of us. _But we don’t even know if they are real since anything can be photoshopped._ Crypto decentralised access to the casino which preys on our gambling tendencies. And most of us either wins big or loses badly when trading perps: * * * Farming perp DEXes is a zero-sum game ------------------------------------- So many posts on the timeline make you feel bad for not farming perp DEXes. KOLs flex their points and volume traded, and this induces FOMO in the rest of us. Even when you’re not sure of how to trade (like me), you think it’s the ‘only’ way to get airdrops. Some may even take more risks than they’re comfortable with to get the airdrop, but the allocation they receive may not cover all the fees they burn. As more and more participants start to farm a perp DEX, [it becomes -EV to farm them for points](https://x.com/fipcrypto/status/1987889514564682164). These are PvP systems with a limited number of points being distributed each week. It gets harder to earn them because point distributions are done retroactively based on the overall activity. So burning fees in the hope of getting more points is not worth it, unless you’re able to make a profit from your trading activity. [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/78259f6461fcc5a4bceb7db4050f073405e7db83d3395908304d89bbfbafb202.jpg)](https://twitter.com/ditto_) [Ditto](https://twitter.com/ditto_) [@ditto\_](https://twitter.com/ditto_) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/ditto_/status/1987798436411044212) This might be hot take but I don't think there will be crazy upside in Perp airdrop if you are thinking to solely farm them. \- Alpha level upside comes from "inefficiency of market". When everyone knows that there is "profit" and go after it, market is efficient and there is no [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 15](https://twitter.com/ditto_/status/1987798436411044212)[ 16:24 • 10 Nov 2025 ](https://twitter.com/ditto_/status/1987798436411044212) This could be a reason why Hyperliquid did so well because some (like silly me) were busy spamming volume on LogX and Orderly while barely doing much there. I’ve stopped farming perp DEXes becahse I’m a bad trader and will lose money by trading frequently. I probably could spend more time trying to learn how effective trading, but it takes up way too much time: * * * Time needs to be factored in ---------------------------- Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but trading perps takes up too much of my time. Even while delta-neutral strategies seem like a risk-free and easy way to farm perp DEXes, there are a lot of nuances required to do it right: * Getting the same entry and exit prices on both platforms * Monitoring the funding rates to make it worth holding the position open * Managing liquidations and margin used * Transferring funds between exchanges to have enough collateral [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/8304d3843c8624e3dc1328dd3c33fdeb2401f569ad352bba76070fab2bd7bd5c.jpg)](https://twitter.com/DefiIgnas) [Ignas | DeFi](https://twitter.com/DefiIgnas) [@DefiIgnas](https://twitter.com/DefiIgnas) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/DefiIgnas/status/1988970798951145767) The perp DEX airdrop playbook seems simple: \- Open short on one DEX and... \- ... a long on another for perp DEXs Key is to monitor funding spread to generate outrageous APYs (e.g., 1256% APR on $ZORA) Use funding rate arbitrage scanners like [@LorisTools](https://twitter.com/LorisTools), [@Arbitraxdexs](https://twitter.com/Arbitraxdexs) or the ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/d5eb54597809e9096f749da4e707c9adb60528dce2fbc1adc39f9d59823e012c.jpg) [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 325](https://twitter.com/DefiIgnas/status/1988970798951145767)[ 22:02 • 13 Nov 2025 ](https://twitter.com/DefiIgnas/status/1988970798951145767) I’ve tried opening a few positions and realised that it’s just not for me. _A lot of these technicalities are not shared by KOLs when they want to shill delta-neutral strategies._ Time is the worst asset to burn, because it cannot be earned back. And I see perp DEXes as a huge time sink because there are too many factors to consider and monitor. Maybe I’ll be the biggest fool when the TGE is out, but I don’t see a point in trading on multiple perp DEXes at the same time (apart from the airdrops): * * * There are too many perp DEXes ----------------------------- I’m likely not the target audience for a perp DEX, but I don’t see a reason why we need so many of them. I can’t find anything unique for most of them, and they all look almost the same, with a chart and the trade options. In the past cycle, GMX and dYdX were major players, but both have faded in prominence with the rise of new platforms. With the ‘success’ of Aster (and Lighter), everyone started launching their own perp DEX (including Justin Sun). [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/7a8c7d2a7918d2dd296aaed87ae140badcf70284a024d253dd1c537fdd41d1fa.jpg)](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [FIP Crypto | Footprint](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [@fipcrypto](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1969082695495139746) I remember when the WUKONG memecoin on Tron went crazy and everyone started throwing money into Tron for the first few weeks. One year later, SunPump is barely earning any fees. Now everyone wants to build their perp DEX, and I'm not going to touch SunPerp because I don't have ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/eb55c1139dd85dfd6b6543f07abafc3bdacc8ea5bb6e3e0ff155a2e63b184ce0.png) [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/63e17973a40a0f60ea29c154c7dbcabc07a58ef298a30d4b5a85ed82160f11ef.jpg)](https://twitter.com/justinsuntron) [H.E. Justin Sun 👨‍🚀 🌞](https://twitter.com/justinsuntron) [@justinsuntron](https://twitter.com/justinsuntron) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1968953658613150049) Today [sunperp.com](https://t.co/FrvjQXSUCy) is rotating its chief customer support role, and I’ll be taking it on for a day. Sunperp has just entered public beta, so feel free to use it as you like. If you run into any issues, just throw them my way. [@SunPerp\_DEX](https://twitter.com/SunPerp_DEX) [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 24](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1969082695495139746)[ 0:54 • 20 Sept 2025 ](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1969082695495139746) But I have zero motivation to explore the new ones, if they’re going to look and feel almost the same. [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/73d3fe1e9451b8bec90a240240a3aec60fbb24489804ff54f26f0be095b97825.jpg)](https://twitter.com/0xMert_) [mert | helius.dev](https://twitter.com/0xMert_) [@0xMert\_](https://twitter.com/0xMert_) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/0xMert_/status/1969876674708754676) I'm in a very tough position here to farm these perps dexes, I've had to go long on dex no.1, short on dex no.2, long on dex no.3, short on dex no.4, and long on dex no.5 to hedge however, I can not find a sixth perps dex can someone help me? my family is starving [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 1,009](https://twitter.com/0xMert_/status/1969876674708754676)[ 5:29 • 22 Sept 2025 ](https://twitter.com/0xMert_/status/1969876674708754676) Everyone else and their family wallets are all doing the same actions, so it’s a waste of time trying to outcompete them. Especially if I’m burning fees in hopes of the token. I will skip grinding out in this meta, because I want to focus on other things: * * * Trading isn’t the only way to get rich -------------------------------------- I’m a horrible trader and it will stay that way. FOMO made me trade on the wrong perp DEXes (Orderly and LogX), and I got burnt out because I kept incurring losses. I don’t see a point in farming volume on perp DEXes anymore because it’s a race to the bottom. Just like other campaigns on MM and Rainbow: **It becomes a competition of who is willing to burn the most fees.** [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/7a8c7d2a7918d2dd296aaed87ae140badcf70284a024d253dd1c537fdd41d1fa.jpg)](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [FIP Crypto | Footprint](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [@fipcrypto](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1984605601247477828) Projects are begging you to farm them when they launch point programs with known criteria. They give you the playbook to get points, and it becomes a PvP game of who can burn the most fees. Only MM and OpenSea win, while their users will likely get low returns if it's too [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/a4e28edf56681daee8a73fa073668e7d62edc4a63571be16c899c4b7dc9ac265.jpg)](https://twitter.com/foogyla) [foogy](https://twitter.com/foogyla) [@foogyla](https://twitter.com/foogyla) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/foogyla/status/1983909503209758862) This situation with [@opensea](https://twitter.com/opensea) and [@MetaMask](https://twitter.com/MetaMask) is so weird to me. We get that you want to attract as many users to use the app, so you have built a points and chest system for people interact and win some prizes. This is great, but the problem you all are doing, is how you have ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ca6718f1c08c0789eb7b3b450e511b47609ca89613d2fddf87547667bf462c25.png) [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 39](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1984605601247477828)[ 20:57 • 1 Nov 2025 ](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1984605601247477828) And it doesn’t make sense for me to continuously lose money in the hopes of getting a good future airdrop. But it doesn’t mean that I plan to skip perp DEXes entirely. _I’ll just do whatever I can, like making small trades whenever there are big market movements._ Trading is just one way to get rich in crypto, and we don’t need to be a good trader to be successful here. There are many routes, including just exploring anything new and sharing our experiences. Farming perp DEXes burns me out, so I’m doing this instead to build wealth: [![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/7a8c7d2a7918d2dd296aaed87ae140badcf70284a024d253dd1c537fdd41d1fa.jpg)](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [FIP Crypto | Footprint](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [@fipcrypto](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto) [![Twitter Logo](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/logo.png)](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1975190613361397934) [x.com/i/article/1971…](https://t.co/Z6lRRmfR2g) [![Like Icon](https://paragraph.com/editor/twitter/heart.png) 48](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1975190613361397934)[ 21:25 • 6 Oct 2025 ](https://twitter.com/fipcrypto/status/1975190613361397934) --- *Originally published on [Stack Signal](https://paragraph.com/@stacksignal/how-perp-dex-farming-tricks-you-into-losing-money)*