Assessing Liquidity Leadership in the Perp DEX Space: Lighter, Hyperliquid, and Aster Compared

The decentralized perpetual exchange (perp DEX) market has become a battleground for innovation and liquidity leadership in 2025, with platforms like Hyperliquid, Aster, and Lighter vying for dominance. While metrics such as total value locked (TVL) and open interest (OI) remain central to evaluating market efficiency, the alignment between these metrics and actual trading activity reveals critical insights into each platform's capital efficiency and long-term sustainability. This analysis dissects the liquidity dynamics of these three platforms, focusing on order book depth, bid-ask spreads, and the interplay between TVL and OI.

Liquidity Depth: Volume vs. Sustained Capital Commitment

Hyperliquid has solidified its position as the structural leader in the perp DEX space, holding 63% of open interest (OI) in September 2025, significantly outpacing Aster ($2.329B) and Lighter ($1.591B) according to reports. This dominance is underscored by Hyperliquid's OI/Volume ratio of 0.64, indicating that a substantial portion of its trading activity translates into durable, overnight positions rather than speculative, high-turnover trades as data shows. In contrast, Aster and Lighter exhibit ratios of ~0.18 and ~0.12, respectively, suggesting that their trading volumes are driven by incentive-driven behavior and short-term speculation according to analysis.

Aster's explosive growth in trading volume-capturing 27.7% of the market in November 2025-has been accompanied by controversy. Its trading data showed an uncanny 1:1 correlation with Binance, leading to its delisting by DefiLlama in October 2025 over concerns about volume authenticity as reported. Meanwhile, Lighter's focus on zero-knowledge proofs and low-latency order books has attracted institutional interest, despite a brief outage in October 2025 according to industry sources.

Q4 2025 data further highlights the shifting dynamics: Aster led with a 24-hour trading volume of $9.07 billion, followed by Lighter ($7.94B) and Hyperliquid ($6.9B) according to market data. However, Hyperliquid and Lighter both experienced a 35% decline in volume compared to earlier in the quarter, raising questions about their ability to sustain high trading activity amid intense competition as financial reports indicate.

TVL and OI Alignment: Capital Efficiency and Credibility

The alignment between TVL and OI serves as a proxy for capital efficiency and market credibility. Hyperliquid's $7.23 billion in OI in December 2025 far exceeded its TVL of $4.13 billion, reflecting its ability to leverage capital effectively and maintain deep liquidity pools according to market analysis. This stark contrast with its TVL underscores Hyperliquid's structural advantage in converting trading activity into sustained capital commitment.

Aster, while trailing in TVL ($1.32B), reported the highest OI among the three at $2.53 billion, suggesting a more efficient use of locked capital according to data. However, its credibility remains under scrutiny due to the aforementioned volume authenticity concerns. Lighter, with a TVL of $1.46B and OI of $1.67B, demonstrated a closer alignment between these metrics, though its TVL remains significantly lower than Hyperliquid's according to market reports.

Broader metrics from December 2025 reinforce Hyperliquid's dominance: it held $66.7 billion in OI and $41.6 billion in TVL, compared to Aster's $24.1B in OI and $13.0B in TVL according to comprehensive analysis. Lighter's $16.5B in OI and $14.6B in TVL positioned it as a rising contender but highlighted its relative immaturity compared to Hyperliquid according to market data.

Strategic Implications and Investment Considerations

Hyperliquid's leadership in OI and capital efficiency positions it as the most stable and credible player in the perp DEX space, with a structural edge in retaining capital and converting high volume into durable positions according to industry analysis. However, its recent volume decline signals potential vulnerabilities in sustaining growth amid aggressive competition from Aster and Lighter.

Aster's high leverage and multi-chain support appeal to retail traders but are overshadowed by credibility risks stemming from its delisting and volume correlation with centralized exchanges according to reports. Lighter's zero-fee model and zk-native infrastructure offer a compelling value proposition, particularly for institutional participants, but its lower TVL and OI suggest it is still maturing according to market analysis.

For investors, the key differentiator lies in capital efficiency and market credibility. Hyperliquid's ability to maintain deep liquidity and convert trading activity into sustained positions makes it a safer bet for long-term capital. Aster's growth potential is tempered by regulatory and credibility risks, while Lighter's technological innovation could disrupt the market if it scales effectively.