The Crypto Conversation
PerpTools – How DEXTools Is Building the Full DeFi Trading Stack
Why It Matters
As decentralized finance continues to capture a larger share of crypto trading volume, integrating analytics, execution, and innovative features like AI agents into a single platform could set a new standard for user experience and liquidity. For traders and investors, PerpTools' approach offers a more accessible, low‑capital way to trade leveraged positions while highlighting the importance of seamless on‑chain execution in a rapidly evolving market.
Key Takeaways
- •DEX volume surged eightfold to $740 B in two years.
- •PerpTools beta attracted 40 k users, $150 M volume.
- •AI trading agents claim 20 k users, target 20% monthly returns.
- •DEXTools integration provides instant user acquisition for PerpTools.
- •Upcoming features: tap game, prediction markets, token launch within year.
Pulse Analysis
The DeFi landscape is exploding, with DEX trading volume jumping from $81 B to $740 B in just two years—a near‑eightfold surge that has forced platforms to evolve quickly. PerpTools answered that pressure by launching a private‑beta on the DEXTools ecosystem, instantly tapping into a built‑in audience of 40,000 traders and generating more than $150 M in on‑chain perpetuals volume. By embedding its order‑book on the DEXTools dashboard, PerpTools sidesteps the classic user‑acquisition bottleneck that plagues new on‑chain derivatives projects.
Beyond raw liquidity, PerpTools differentiates itself with AI‑driven trading agents and gamified engagement. Over 20,000 users claimed free AI agents during the rollout, and the team promises roughly 20% monthly returns on back‑tested strategies. These agents, combined with upcoming copy‑trading vaults, aim to make perpetual trading both accessible and profitable for retail participants. The platform also plans a tap‑trading game and prediction‑market layer, creating sticky, multi‑vertical experiences that challenge incumbents like Hyperliquid while leveraging DEXTools’ deep chain integrations and community reach.
Looking ahead, PerpTools’ roadmap is ambitious: phased AI‑agent releases, a seasonal points‑based gamification system, and a token generation event slated for the next six to eight months. By delivering a one‑stop DeFi stack—research, analytics, execution, and incentives—the project positions itself as a catalyst for broader DeFi adoption, offering traders leverage up to 100x without the custodial risks of centralized exchanges. As the ecosystem matures, such integrated solutions could become the default gateway for on‑chain perpetual trading, reshaping how capital flows across the multi‑chain future.
Episode Description
Wael Rajab is the CMO of PerpTools and co-founder and director of DEXT Ventures, the capital arm of DEXTools — one of DeFi's original and most widely used on-chain trading and analytics platforms. With nearly a decade in crypto and a portfolio spanning over 100 investments across 150+ integrated blockchains, Wael has been at the centre of decentralised finance's growth from data dashboard to full trading stack.
Why you should listen
DEXTools built its reputation as the go-to platform for on-chain token analytics — the place traders head when they want to understand what's happening across chains without needing to be technically fluent. But the landscape has shifted dramatically. DEX volumes have grown nearly eightfold in two years, from $81 billion to roughly $740 billion, and perpetuals trading has become one of the most contested battlegrounds in DeFi. PerpTools is DEXTools' answer: a native perps vertical that gives millions of existing users the ability to trade derivatives without ever leaving the platform they already trust.
What makes the PerpTools story compelling isn't just the product — it's the distribution. Most new perp DEXs face a brutal cold-start problem, spending heavily on user acquisition with uncertain results. PerpTools launched into an established audience and reached 40,000 users and over $150 million in traded volume within weeks of its beta. Built on Orderly's shared order book and liquidity layer, the platform is designed for speed and capital efficiency, with sub-200 millisecond latency and leverage up to 100x — all self-custodial and permissionless.
The roadmap is where things get genuinely interesting. AI trading agents — back-tested to average 20% monthly returns — are being rolled out in tranches to top community members, with copy trading and vault-based strategies to follow. Prediction markets, a tap-to-earn trading game, and a token generation event targeted within six to eight months round out a product pipeline designed to make the platform as sticky as possible. Wael also opens up on competing in a space where Hyperliquid looms large, the strategic logic behind the Orderly partnership, and why DeFi's permissionless, borderless architecture represents a genuine levelling of the financial playing field.
Supporting links
DEXTools
PerpTools
Andy on X
Brave New Coin on X
Brave New Coin
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