Perpetual futures open interest shifts structurally toward RWA contracts, which now represent $9B (14% of total) across major venues, up from near-zero.
DeFi & Yields ·
Perpetual futures open interest across five major trading venues has contracted to $67 billion from $81 billion over the past year, yet a notable reallocation is underway. Real-world asset (RWA) contracts have surged to $9 billion in open interest, representing 14% of the total, up from virtually nothing. This expansion reflects a structural shift in how derivatives markets operate, with crypto-native trading infrastructure being deployed to enable leverage and hedging on traditional financial assets rather than solely on digital currencies.
The growth suggests traders and institutions are increasingly using established perpetual futures platforms—designed originally for crypto volatility—to access traditional markets with the trading mechanics and speed those venues provide. The $9 billion figure underscores that the migration is no longer marginal but has become material enough to shift the composition of overall open interest.
Whether this trend will continue depends partly on regulatory clarity around RWA derivatives, liquidity depth in individual contracts, and the competitive response from traditional derivatives exchanges. The sustainability of this structural shift and its implications for both crypto and traditional finance infrastructure remain to be tested.