Crypto Perps Are Easier to Access Than Ever Before—Is That A Good Thing?

Perpetual futures are crypto’s hottest trading strategy right now, with traders flocking to these high-risk bets on high-risk assets in record numbers. But as access to these products gets easier, now available to anyone with a crypto wallet or a Telegram account, analysts warn they present the crypto market with a “double-edged sword.”

Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivative contracts with no expiration date that allow users to place leveraged bets, using borrowed capital, on the future price of an asset, such as Bitcoin. Bet correctly and your winnings are multiplied, based on the amount of leverage on the position. Bet incorrectly and your position can be liquidated, or forcibly closed—like what happened on Oct. 10 when cascading liquidations across the crypto market led to a record $19 billion being wiped out within hours.

For years, these high-risk, high-reward trades, offering between 10 and 1,001X leverage, were generally only available on offshore centralized exchanges, outside of the United States.

But that’s now changed, not only because of the relaxed regulatory environment crypto now enjoys under President Donald Trump, but also because of the rise of decentralized trading alternatives like Hyperliquid, which allow access to anyone around the globe with a crypto wallet.

Popular crypto wallets MetaMask and Phantom have now also added perps trading directly into their mobile and browser apps using Hyperliquid, a perps-focused decentralized exchange with a dedicated blockchain. This means millions of new users now have access to a previously highly restricted trading product, all without the need to create an account on a centralized exchange or reveal personally identifiable information.

According to DefiLlama, perps trading has accounted for 16% of Phantom’s total annualized revenue of $195 million and 6% of MetaMask’s $81 million—despite only rolling out in July and October, respectively. 

Telegram mini-app Blum has also started offering perps with leverage up to 100x, and the company predicts it will account for 80% of its total volume by the start of 2026. MetaMask is similarly enthused by the opportunity.

“We’re seeing exceptional early traction,” MetaMask Senior Product Director Mike Lwin told Decrypt. “Perps are a major focus for us, and more broadly, trading is central to where MetaMask is headed.”

Perpetual futures have been big business in crypto this year, generating over $1.27 trillion in trading volume over the past 30 days, according to DefiLlama. Decentralized exchanges that specialize in perps, such as Hyperliquid and Aster, have especially found success as they lower the barrier for entry.

But with lower barriers comes a broader, less experienced user base, which may not understand how these products work or the associated risks.

Gleb Kostarev, co-founder of Blum, told Decrypt that a sizable portion of his following on X and Telegram did not know what auto-deleveraging is, how it works, or that they’re exposed to it—a fundamental mechanic for exchanges that offer perps, used to reduce the exchange’s risk.

“This example actually shows that a lot of people are not really into the details of how these products are working,” Kostarev explained. “It's really important for them to understand that, and we need to educate them more,” he said. “[Users] should have a real view on what's going on and what might happen and what might be the risks.”

Blum is attempting to educate its audience through its social media channels, Kostarev said. Unlike centralized exchanges, however, Blum and other apps like it don’t require their users to pass risk assessment quizzes or otherwise demonstrate they understand the basics of perps and leverage before they trade.

Phantom prompts its users with a brief education flow on perp trading, leverage, and liquidation within the wallet as soon as a user opens the perps product. MetaMask also has a multi-step tutorial on perps when the user first accesses the feature.

Market analysts previously warned Decrypt that the increased popularity of perps and competition over leverage offerings could be creating systemic risk within the crypto market. It followed a record-breaking $19 billion worth of leveraged positions that were liquidated in a single 24-hour period earlier this month.

Messari research analyst Matthew Nay told Decrypt that the addition of perps in wallets and messaging apps would only have a “marginal” impact on any systemic risk, as most of the risk comes from whales—large traders sitting on millions or even billions in leveraged positions.

Blum’s Kostarev told Decrypt that offering high levels of leverage is a way to entice retail users, not whales. That’s why Blum offers 100x leverage, he said. As a Telegram mini-app, Blum’s target audience is people who are new to the industry and from developing countries. That is also why the mini-app’s user interface is simplified and made easier for newer traders to use, he explained.

MetaMask’s Lwin said lowering the barrier for traders to access perps allows crypto to “unlock a much larger audience,” which “deepens liquidity, tightens spreads,” and “accelerates” user migration from centralized products to decentralized ones.

But Messari’s Nay called the lower barrier a “double-edged sword.” On one hand, it allows retail traders to get their hands on a “cool primitive only possible through crypto,” but it could also “turn some [traders] off” if the education isn’t good enough and new users get burned.

Gregoire Magadini, Director of Derivatives at Amberdata, told Decrypt these products are targeting users who are more likely to be “set it and forget it” type traders, which leveraged positions are uniquely not designed for. Passive investors, he said, would be making a “potential error” in using perps, since the trading strategy requires active management.

“Leveraged exposure requires profit targets, stop losses, high-quality data feeds, [and] alerts in order to ensure risk is well controlled,” he explained. “Easier onboarding into more tradable products has been successful (think Robinhood and options), but I'd caution newer traders to plan their trades appropriately."