Author: fiyalkin, Crypto KOL
Compiled by: Felix, PANews
Original Title: 9 Perp DEX Projects Poised for Airdrops in 2026
Recently, crypto KOL fiyalkin compiled a list of Perp DEX projects that might conduct token launches in 2026, including brief introductions and key data. These projects are all in the early stages of development and have not yet issued tokens. Details are as follows.
1. Variational
Variational is a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) derivatives trading protocol built on Arbitrum, focusing on the on-chain trading, settlement, and clearing of generalized derivatives such as perpetual contracts, options, and futures.
Multiple applications have been developed based on the Variational protocol, including Omni for simple perpetual contract trading and Pro for advanced traders and institutions.
Unique tech stack:
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Zero fees on all position trades, only $0.1 fee for deposits and withdrawals
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Loss Rebate: When users close losing trades on the Omni platform, there is a 2-4% chance of an immediate full rebate of the loss.
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Extensive market coverage: Omni supports emerging markets like RWA, volatility (485 markets total)
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Ample liquidity: Omni's liquidity management system aggregates liquidity from CEXs, DEXs, DeFi, and OTC channels.
The project's points program has been live for less than a month. Early traders have already shared 3 million points, with an additional 150,000 points distributed weekly. The current circulating points are about 3.3 million. Considering points programs typically last about six months, this is still a very early stage.
Currently, the Variational protocol's Open Interest (OI) is $670 million; daily trading volume is $1.5 billion; weekly traders number 12,000.
Additionally, Variational raised $11.8 million from institutions including Coinbase, Dragonfly, and Bain Capital Ventures between 2024-2025.
2. Ethereal
Perp DEX platform Ethereal is deeply integrated with Ethena Labs' synthetic dollar USDe, aiming to build a "one-stop DeFi application" centered around USDe.
Furthermore, Ethereal is the first DEX where margin earns daily yield, meaning users' margin earns yield even while holding open positions, thus compounding returns on every trade.
Ethereal is deployed as an EVM appchain with the following configuration:
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Settlement via Arbitrum One
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Arbitrum execution environment
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Celestia data availability
Current Ethereal Open Interest is $45 million, daily trading volume is approximately $80 million, and the total number of traders is 8,000.
3. Hibachi
Hibachi is a privacy-focused trading platform. Raised a $5 million seed round in March 2025 from Dragonfly, Electric Capital, and Echo. Team members are from Citadel, Tower Research, IMC, Meta, Google, Hashflow, etc.
Hibachi has now launched social features and upgraded chart annotation functions, among others. Since the beta release last June, cumulative trading volume has exceeded $6.7 billion, daily trading volume is $7 million, Open Interest (OI) is approximately $1.5 million, and daily active traders exceed 2,000. It has launched a new points system and has not yet issued a token.
4. Cascade
Cascade is a 24/7 neo-broker offering perpetual markets covering cryptocurrencies, US stocks, and private assets, with zero trading fees. Currently, access is available to some invited depositors, with a public launch expected in early 2026. Initially, the platform will offer over 10 perpetual markets, with the product lineup to be expanded gradually.
The project has raised $15 million from investors including Polychain Capital, Variant, Coinbase Ventures, and Archetype, and has established partnerships with Arbitrum, Base, Chainlink, and Pyth Network.
5. Pacifica
Perp DEX platform Pacifica is built on Solana, aiming to combine CEX speed with DeFi transparency and non-custodial security. Pacifica was founded in January last year, is completely self-funded, and has no venture capital. Team members are from companies like Binance, FTX, Coinbase, NFTperp, as well as financial institutions like Jane Street, Fidelity, and AI companies like OpenAI, DeepMind, ByteDance.
Current Pacifica Open Interest is approximately $71 million, daily trading volume is $600 million, and the total number of traders is 33,000.
6. Extended
Extended is a Perp DEX built by the former Revolut team, aiming to integrate cross-asset collateral, unified margin, Perps, spot, and lending into one application. Besides cryptocurrencies, Extended also offers RWA/TradFi markets like EUR, S&P 500, using USDC as collateral.
Extended is already live on the Ethereum L2 network Starknet mainnet, supports over 50 trading pairs and leverage up to 100x. Open Interest (OI) is approximately $200 million, daily trading volume is about $1.5 billion, and daily active users number 4,200.
Extended has completed a $6.5 million funding round, with investors including Tioga Capital, Semantic Ventures, StarkWare, etc.
7. Nado
Nado is a high-performance central limit order book (CLOB) DEX platform built on Ink L2 (an EVM-compatible L2 network launched by Kraken), developed by the former Kraken team. It combines CEX-level speed with DeFi non-custodial security, offering a unified trading experience for spot, perpetual contracts, and money markets.
Nado's main features:
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Trade spot and perpetual contract markets: Supports major currencies like BTC and ETH, with perpetual contracts offering up to 20x leverage.
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Nado Engine: Nado's core is a high-performance off-chain sequencer and on-chain risk engine, settled via Ink L2. New trades enter the order book instantly with 5-15 ms latency and are batched for on-chain settlement.
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Unified Margin: Use your entire portfolio in one unified margin account as collateral for spot, perpetuals, and money markets.
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Money Markets: Deposits automatically earn yield, borrow for margin using flexible collateral like wETH or USDT0, and easily achieve quick looped positions with spot margin trading.
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Low Fees: Taker fees as low as 1.5 basis points, maker rebates up to -0.8 basis points, with tiered increases based on volume. The more you trade, the lower the fees.
Current Nado Open Interest is approximately $90 million, daily trading volume is $500 million, and daily traders number about 2,000.
8. TradeXYZ
TradeXYZ is a Perp trading platform focused on RWA and traditional financial assets, built on Hyperliquid L1's HIP-3 protocol. Developed by the Unit.xyz team, it aims to realize a 24/7 global capital market for "trading any asset, anywhere, anytime".
Its maximum supported leverage is as follows:
Related Questions
QWhat is the key feature of Variational that allows users to potentially get a full refund on losing trades?
AVariational's Omni platform has a 'Loss Refund' feature where users have a 2-4% chance of receiving a full refund on their losses immediately when closing a losing trade.
QWhich Perp DEX project is built as an EVM appchain and integrates Ethena Labs' synthetic dollar USDe to offer yield on margin?
AEthereal is the Perp DEX that is built as an EVM appchain and deeply integrates Ethena Labs' USDe, allowing users to earn yield on their margin even while holding open positions.
QName the Solana-based Perp DEX that was self-funded and has a team with backgrounds from major CEXs and AI companies.
APacifica is the Solana-based Perp DEX that is completely self-funded, with a team from Binance, FTX, Coinbase, Jane Street, Fidelity, OpenAI, DeepMind, and ByteDance.
QWhat type of assets does the crypto market does the Perp DEX TradeXYZ primarily focus on trading?
ATradeXYZ primarily focuses on trading Real World Assets (RWA) and traditional finance (TradFi) assets, such as silver, Nasdaq-tracking futures (XYZ100), and forex pairs like EUR/USD and USD/JPY.
QWhich project on the list is built on the Hyperliquid L1's HIP-3 protocol and aims to create a 24/7 global capital market?
ATradeXYZ is the project built on Hyperliquid L1's HIP-3 protocol, developed by the Unit.xyz team, with the goal of enabling a 24/7 global capital market for trading any asset.
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