Perpetual futures remain one of the main products of centralized exchanges (CEX). In March 2026, derivatives accounted for 76.5% of their total trading volume, the highest since September 2023. However, CEX's monopoly is gradually weakening. In May, the share of the perp-DEX Hyperliquid in the crypto derivatives market reached a record 6.63%, with around $200 billion traded out of a total volume of $3 trillion.

At the same time, the role of crypto wallets is changing, evolving from simple storage solutions into full-fledged financial applications. Initially, they captured part of the spot trading from exchanges, and now they are adding perpetual futures and other tools.

With the team from Gem Wallet, we explore the tasks that non-custodial wallets are already handling in 2026 and where centralized exchanges are still indispensable.

Why Is Everyone Going to Exchanges?

Centralized platforms win the competition for users through speed and cost efficiency. The Bitcoin mainnet processes 5–7 transactions per second, confirmations take minutes, and fees can soar to tens of dollars during high demand. Exchanges don’t need a blockchain for transactions: transferring an amount from one client’s balance to another can be done in milliseconds and almost for free.

This efficiency has made CEX a universal entry point. Fiat gateways, spot trading, futures, custody, and deep liquidity are all consolidated in one account. Wallets were left with the role of safes: holding purchased assets and occasionally sending transactions.

Fast networks like Solana and Layer 2 solutions for Ethereum have changed the game: confirmation times have dropped to seconds, and fees are below a cent. The main drawbacks of on-chain infrastructure have disappeared, while the advantages remain: full control over funds, privacy, and resistance to censorship.

When Spot Trading Moved to Wallets

Token exchanges no longer require deposits on platforms. Wallets aggregate liquidity from decentralized exchanges and cross-chain protocols: trades are executed from the user’s own address without intermediaries.

For instance, Gem Wallet routes swaps through THORChain, as well as Uniswap, Jupiter, and PancakeSwap. The app supports over 100 blockchains.

“Now you can exchange Bitcoin for USDT (TRC-20) or an asset on the Solana network in one interface without registration or KYC,” comments Gem Wallet.

The service charges a swap fee of 0.5% of the transaction amount. MetaMask’s built-in exchange costs 0.875%: for a $10,000 transaction, that’s $50 compared to $87.5.

Yield Catching Up

Passive income has long been a stronghold of exchanges: Earn programs allowed users to earn interest on stablecoins with just a few clicks. However, on-chain alternatives have caught up in convenience. On July 1, 2026, American broker Robinhood launched its Earn product offering around 7% annual yield on the USDG stablecoin issued by Paxos. Users’ funds are pooled in the credit DeFi protocol Morpho on the Robinhood Chain.

“The base yield of Earn programs from major CEXs ranges from 2% to 4% annually. On-chain options provide more: Robinhood offers around 7% for U.S. clients, while Ondo offers USDY for the rest of the world. DeFi pools are already accessible to wallet users, and stablecoins with passive growth on the balance—buy and earn—will become a standard feature within a year or two,” notes Gem Wallet.

Exchanging USDC (ERC-20) for USDG on the Robinhood Chain. Source: Gem Wallet.

Staking has also moved to wallets. Gem Wallet supports Ethereum, Solana, TRON, Cosmos, and other PoS assets.

Derivatives Are Next

Perpetual contracts were the last exclusive feature of centralized exchanges. Now, perp-DEXs have become a standalone category: at their peak in October 2025, the monthly turnover of this segment reached $1.36 trillion. The market is not limited to Hyperliquid: Aster briefly surpassed it in trading volume, SunPerp launched in the TRON ecosystem, and Lighter is gaining traction.

Users can trade perpetual futures in Gem Wallet through integration with Hyperliquid. By default, this feature is disabled to protect newcomers from risky instruments. Access must first be enabled in the settings.

To activate the perpetual futures section, click the “Settings” button in the wallet’s bottom menu, then select “Settings” again from the opened list. Source: Gem Wallet.

Users have access to perpetual contracts on cryptocurrencies, stocks like Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, gold, silver, and oil—over 100 markets in total. Leverage goes up to 50x.

“The mechanics are simple: the trader funds their trading account in USDC via the Arbitrum network, opens a long or short position, and confirms each operation with their keys. Gem Wallet does not charge a fee for connecting to Hyperliquid,” the wallet developers note.

Users will only need to pay Hyperliquid’s fees—0.01% for makers and 0.035% for takers, plus the funding rate.

Stocks are available not only as perpetual contracts. They can also be purchased via spot trading: a swap from USDT or Bitcoin turns into a tokenized share of Tesla or Apple, for example, through the issuer xStocks. In this case, the holder earns not only from the company’s price appreciation—dividends from the underlying asset also provide income to the owner of the tokenized share.

Disclaimer

ForkLog is not responsible for the investment decisions of its readers.

Control and Privacy

The advantage of the non-custodial model is particularly evident where exchange decisions are made by compliance algorithms. AML systems on platforms can block accounts of well-meaning users. Restrictions can be triggered in seconds, while unlocking often takes weeks.

In a non-custodial wallet, such mechanisms do not exist. No one can freeze funds based on citizenship, impose withdrawal limits, or request documentation regarding the origin of assets.

The Gem Wallet app does not collect personal data, and its source code is open on GitHub. In April 2026, the blockchain security company CertiK completed the first audit of the wallet: no critical or serious vulnerabilities were found, and the team addressed six medium-level issues.

Where Exchanges Still Have the Edge

  1. Access Recovery. A lost seed phrase means losing assets. On an exchange, a forgotten password can be recovered through a verification process—a fundamental advantage of the custodial model.
  2. P2P and Fiat. Buying cryptocurrency with a card has long been available not only on exchanges: platforms and wallets often work through the same payment providers like MoonPay or Mercuryo. The difference lies in P2P trading, where developed marketplaces with escrow remain an exchange advantage.
  3. Execution for Active Trading. Average investors have enough on-chain liquidity, but large trades typically go through the OTC market. However, scalping and high-frequency strategies are sensitive to delays: block finalization takes about a second compared to milliseconds for centralized matching.
  4. Cards, Bonuses, and Reporting. Crypto cards with cashback are more developed on exchanges. Bonus programs and trading competitions are technically easier to launch on CEX infrastructure.

Finally, self-custody places all responsibility on the user. Phishing, malicious transaction signatures, and device compromise are the main attack vectors. After a $1.5 billion hack in February 2025, Bybit closed the deficit and restored reserves 1:1 within 72 hours. A wallet owner has no one to compensate for mistakes or theft.

Which Tool for Whom

A wallet is sufficient if you:

  • prefer to control your assets independently and not depend on platform rules;
  • exchange tokens within and between networks;
  • trade perpetual contracts with moderate volumes;
  • seek yield on stablecoins without transferring funds to an intermediary.

An exchange is still necessary if you:

  • deposit and withdraw fiat through P2P;
  • scalp or use algorithmic strategies;
  • use crypto cards and bonus programs;
  • want custodial insurance, access recovery, and ready-made reports for accounting.

Custodial services offer convenience and protection in exchange for control over assets and user data. Non-custodial wallets leave this control with the owner, along with full responsibility for the funds. There is no clear winner here: just as in investing, where results depend on proper diversification, in the debate between CEX and DEX, the winner is not one side but a smart combination of both approaches for specific tasks.

In 2026, non-custodial wallets handle most everyday operations for traders and investors, while exchanges are increasingly becoming specialized tools.