The perpetual futures market has experienced significant growth, with trading volumes surpassing spot trading volumes on decentralized exchanges. As of February 2026, perpetual contract trading volumes have surged to 75% of total trading volume, up from 44% in February 2025. This growth is notable given the 40% decline in the total cryptocurrency market cap during the same period. Open Interest (OI), a key metric indicating open risk exposure, has also increased, tripling from $4 billion to $13 billion over the past year. Despite a 50% rise in OI, trading volumes have doubled, highlighting the market's shift towards derivatives trading. The OI/Volume ratio has improved from 0.33x to 0.49x, reflecting increased capital efficiency. Leading perpetual exchanges like Hyperliquid and Aster demonstrate varying strategies in capital efficiency and monetization. Hyperliquid's OI-to-volume ratio exceeds 45%, while Aster focuses on capital retention with a 34% ratio. The perpetual market's future hinges on exchanges optimizing for sustainable growth and monetization beyond mere trading volume rankings.