Perpetual DEX Platforms Captured 32% of Total Blockchain Fees
Perpetual trading is quickly becoming the fastest growing sector across crypto and decentralized finance, with two platforms Hyperliquid and Aster accounting for nearly one‑third of all blockchain fee revenues, around 32%.
According to VanEck, Hyperliquid (HYPE) edged up 1.5% in September, taking a breather after an impressive year‑to‑date surge of 88%, one of the strongest performances among the top 100 cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, Aster (ASTER) drew significant attention with the launch of its new token on September 17, which has surged an astonishing 1,667% since debut.
Crypto Markets & Blockchain Fees Lost Steam in September
Crypto markets lost steam in September as a wave of late‑month selloffs erased earlier gains, VanEck data showed.
Out of 35 major tokens, 23 ended the month lower, signaling a cooling trend after several months of momentum.
Bitcoin managed to hold its ground with a 5% gain, while Ether slipped 5%, reflecting a mixed tone across leading assets.
The report also pointed to a broad slowdown in blockchain activity.
Overall network revenues declined 16% month‑over‑month, marking one of the steepest drops this year.
Ethereum’s revenue fell 6%, Solana’s slid 11%, and Tron’s plunged 37%, a result partly tied to a new governance proposal that slashed transaction fees.
Experts said the pullback was largely driven by falling volatility across major assets, down 40% for Ether, 26% for Bitcoin, and 16% for Solana, leaving traders with fewer incentives to pay high priority fees.
Blob Activity Hit New Milestone for the First Time Since the Dencun Upgrade
The report also showed that average blob usage on Ethereum has hit the six‑blob target for the first time since the Dencun upgrade went live in March 2025.
This milestone, according to VanEck, reflects growing demand for efficient data storage and signals a major step in Ethereum’s ongoing shift toward rollup‑based scaling.
The network initially launched Dencun with a modest limit of three blobs per block, but developers raised the ceiling to six in May after confirming stable performance.
Since then, Layer 2 rollups have steadily filled the additional capacity, underscoring the appetite for cheaper data availability.
Meanwhile, recent figures also revealed that Coinbase’s Base and Worldcoin’s World Chain together now account for roughly 60% of all Layer 2 data submissions to Ethereum.