CLOBs: On-Chain Trading Beasts

Traditional order book systems are central to pro trading. In DeFi, dYdX pioneered the model. Now, a new class of CLOBs is driving innovation: focusing on speed, fairness, privacy, and extensibility. Here's a deeper dive, with current stats and features.

dYdX – The OG Perps Powerhouse

dYdX redefined decentralized trading with:

• ~$1.4 trillion in lifetime trading volume
• $200 million in open interest across 220+ markets
• $12 million in MegaVault TVL
  Governed by its community, dYdX remains the benchmark for serious DeFi traders and institutional-grade access.

Hyperliquid – CEX Speed Meets On‑Chain Transparency

Hyperliquid features:

• Zero gas and low fees: Streamlined UX with no wallet approvals
• Up to 40× leverage: Efficient capital use
• Native vaults & API: Designed for community-run market-making

Key stats (24 h):

• Volume: $15 billion
• Fees: $5.1 million (≈$1.8 b earn annualized)
• Spot USDC liquidity: $445 million
• TWAP-based $HYPE buy pressure: $300k

HyperEVM delivers near‑0.07 s block times and ~200k TPS, all community-led, no VC or centralized MM involvement.

Lighter – Provably Fair Trading

On Ethereum L2, Lighter brings trust-less transparency:

• Zero maker/taker fees
• ZK‑verified matching & liquidations: Every action is cryptographically provable
• Built for fairness and scalability

Stats (private beta):

• 24 h volume: $3 billion
• Open interest: $250 million

Backed by a16z, Lighter is redefining trust in DeFi trading.

Hibachi – ZK-Encrypted Perps

Hibachi is Privacy-focused with Succinct ZK proofs layered on Celestia’s Private DA:

• Encrypted order book state published to Celestia
• Provable and private via Succinct ZK Proofs
• High‑performance CLOB with built‑in secrecy

For traders wanting confidentiality and efficiency in one package.

Derive – Options & Structured Trading Lab

Derive serves as a hub for BTC/ETH options, perps, structured products, yield, lending, and insurance:

• Fully onchain, permissionless options and perpetuals
• Integrated yield from restaked collateral
• Governed by users via the Derive DAO and $DRV

Built on an Optimistic Rollup, Derive extends trading beyond just perps into comprehensive structured finance territory.

Protocols in Development

Monad Ecosystem: Kuru & Perpl

• Kuru (live on testnet): Native Monad CLOB optimized for cost and market-making
  • Flip Orders: auto-flip limit orders post-fill, reducing manual quoting
  • Consistent gas usage for market makers, tight spreads, steady liquidity

• Perpl (coming soon): Monad native perps DEX
  • On-chain matching, full verifiability, deep liquidity
  • Near-zero gas, high TPS (~10k), sub-500 ms blocks, fully composable

GTE: On MegaETH Testnet atm

A unified trading venue combining CLOB, AMM, launchpad, and swaps:

• Non-custodial, CEX-grade speed
• Price aggregation across AMM and CLOB
• Token lifecycle tools, launchpad and bonding curve support
• Integrated native CLOB for low-slippage execution

Built to serve from token launch to mature liquidity.

Final Thoughts

CLOBs are growing fast:

• dYdX is the gold OG
• Hyperliquid is the new leader
• Lighter proves fairness by design
• Hibachi brings privacy to perps
• Derive expands into options and yield primitives
• Kuru and Perpl are building Monad-native futures
• GTE bundles full lifecycle trading on MegaETH

This is no hype. These platforms are building the next-gen trading infrastructure: fast, fair, private, and composable. If you're creating or trading at scale, this new wave of CLOBs is the navigation layer you need.