Onchain Perps Poised to Eat Centralized Volume and Challenge TradFi, Says Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi

Onchain perpetual swap protocols are moving beyond crypto speculation to challenge centralized exchanges and traditional derivatives markets, according to Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi. Speaking on a recent podcast episode, Qureshi noted that early decentralized derivative attempts struggled with latency and user experience, but modern platforms like Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Variational have set a new performance standard. Hyperliquid has already captured a meaningful portion of Binance's volume and open interest, demonstrating that high-throughput onchain execution can effectively compete with centralized venues.

According to Qureshi, the addressable market for onchain perps extends far beyond digital assets into real-world assets (RWAs) and global contracts for difference (CFDs). With over half of Hyperliquid's trading volume stemming from RWAs such as commodities and foreign equities, onchain derivatives are positioned to target traditional venues like the CME, NASDAQ, and ICE. While asset tokenization may attract long-term wealth preservation over a five-year horizon, Qureshi expects perps to dominate the immediate term due to leverage, capital efficiency, and the absence of underlying asset inventory requirements.

Addressing other emerging crypto sectors, Qureshi expressed skepticism about vault platforms, citing low defensibility and fee compression, but remained constructive on prediction markets despite state-level enforcement actions. He expects the legal fight over whether prediction markets fall under federal CFTC oversight or state gambling authority to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Additionally, Qureshi highlighted a resurgence in privacy assets and chain abstraction solutions, citing protocols like Near and Zcash as critical counterweights as crypto institutionalizes.