Perpetual futures, commonly referred to as "perps," represent the largest segment of the cryptocurrency market, and they are reshaping the narrative around market convergence. While crypto is often seen as evolving to reflect traditional finance practices—including revenue generation, stock buybacks, and transparency—perps illustrate a reverse trend: established financial assets are increasingly adopting the structures pioneered by crypto.
The magnitude of this shift is significant. Perpetual futures have become the most liquid and deepest instruments within the crypto space, with daily trading volumes nearing three-quarters of a trillion dollars, consistently surpassing the spot markets they are linked to. Unlike traditional futures that include expiry and settlement dates, perps utilize a funding rate to maintain alignment with spot prices. Historically, they were viewed as a niche product within the crypto realm.
This perception is changing. The perpetual futures model is now being utilized across various sectors beyond crypto. Traders can hold perpetual positions on assets such as gold, major currency pairs, and stock indices, with trades settled on blockchain platforms that have emerged in the last few years. Decentralized exchanges are now offering synthetic exposure to large-cap stocks alongside cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, while centralized exchanges are expanding their offerings to include commodities and indices. This growth trajectory is not merely incremental.
Data from CoinDesk Research indicates that volumes for real-world asset perpetuals soared to a record $211 billion in May 2026, a staggering increase from approximately $12 billion in the last quarter of 2025. Notably, equity perps alone surged by 121% month-over-month, reaching $54 billion. Analysts have noted that equity perps may outpace crypto perps in trading volume in the future, highlighting the trend that, while crypto is perceived to be aligning with traditional finance, it is traditional assets that are increasingly adopting the crypto market’s framework.
This shift is driven by practical advantages. Perpetual markets operate continuously, are globally accessible, and do not close on weekends or after trading sessions. For assets like gold or large-cap stocks, this offers a distinct advantage over traditional venues: there’s no need for a borrowing desk to short, no contracts to roll before expiry, and no waiting for settlement windows. The appeal of these instruments lies in their practicality rather than marketing efforts.
Critics may argue that this represents mere leveraged speculation in a new guise and that traditional markets retain their complexities for valid reasons. Both points hold merit. A funding rate cannot replicate the price discovery process enforced by settlement, and constant leverage on volatile assets can amplify risks in ways that traditional markets do not. However, these concerns should not deter the development of these structures; rather, they underscore the necessity for careful construction. The demand for such innovations is evident, gravitating towards platforms that provide universal access to a diverse range of assets, including stocks, cryptocurrencies, and foreign exchange.
One area where crypto has yet to fully evolve is in offering real economic rights, revenue shares, and voting privileges associated with tokens. Over the past year, various projects have been delisted for lacking substantive backing, while more robust teams have opted for IPOs instead of token launches. Even IPOs now integrate into this ecosystem: shares of SpaceX were traded as synthetic pre-IPO perpetuals on Hyperliquid prior to their June 2026 listing, with trading volumes reaching tens of millions daily in May and peaking at approximately $1.3 billion on debut day as investors sought crypto avenues when traditional allocations were unavailable. The infrastructure supporting perpetuals has not yet fully aligned with these advancements. The next phase involves incorporating this transparency throughout the crypto landscape. This consolidation is occurring on both centralized and decentralized platforms, with leading exchanges now managing multi-asset books that include equities, cryptocurrencies, and foreign exchange, and a single centralized platform accounting for over half of all real-world asset perp volume in May 2026. The trend appears to be structural rather than speculative, as 52% of Bitget's users hold both stocks and crypto.
The critical question is not when crypto will start to mirror Wall Street, but rather how much of Wall Street will eventually trade on the infrastructure that crypto has developed. I estimate that tokenization could transform nearly 10% of global capital markets in the coming years, a shift that could be measured in trillions of dollars rather than mere basis points. Current trends suggest that perpetual futures will play a pivotal role in facilitating this transition.
Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.