Raising nearly $100 million in funding: What is the background of the "3 major perpetual DEX" newcomers?

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Author: Jae, PANews 2026 has entered the prologue of summer, but the crypto financing market has just experienced a chilling "late spring cold." Cointelegraph data shows that the crypto venture capital market cooled significantly in April. The total crypto VC financing for the month fell by 74% quarter-on-quarter to $660 million, with only 63 recorded deal events, marking the lowest monthly financing level since July 2024. The chill has permeated almost every track, with investment institutions tightening their purse strings in unison. However, there is always a force growing towards the sun in the midst of a cold winter. In May, the on-chain derivatives track exploded against the trend, with three major protocols—PopDEX, Variational, and Liquid—densely securing heavy institutional funding within two consecutive weeks. In addition to top-tier VCs like Dragonfly Capital, they also gained favor from the growth-stage traditional fund Left Lane Capital. The bet of nearly $100 million in real money is not only a consensus among capital on the high growth potential of the derivatives track, but also signals that the new battlefield for the next generation of Perp DEX (decentralized perpetual exchange) has already begun. Bidding farewell to false prosperity, PopDEX leads "value return" with $30 million The outstanding performance of the crypto derivatives trading track confirms that the financing achievements of the three major protocols have strong logical support. The "2026 Crypto Perpetual Contract Market Report" released by CoinGecko points out that the market landscape of Perp DEX is undergoing a subtle marginal tilt: - Trading activity in Perp CEX is facing contraction: The average monthly trading volume of the Top 11 Perp CEXs fell by 34% year-on-year in the first four months of this year, shrinking from $7.11 trillion last year to the current $4.69 trillion. - Perp DEX market share has risen significantly: The average monthly trading volume of the Top 12 Perp DEXs has grown from $531.65 billion last year to the current $611.57 billion. Even more remarkably, in the open interest (OI) distribution of the entire crypto derivatives market, the share of Perp DEX has soared from 3.6% at the beginning of last year to 13.5% at the end of April, achieving nearly a 4x growth. Even JPMorgan Chase stated in a research report that Perp DEX is gradually encroaching on the market territory of mid-tier CEXs. This ebb and flow reveals that capital is accelerating its migration toward Perp DEXs, which are "non-custodial and offer autonomous control over asset ownership." However, the Perp DEX track once lost its way during the aggressive expansion of the last cycle: protocols relied heavily on point airdrops to "subsidize" liquidity, exchanging it for false prosperity. Once the airdrop expectations were met, liquidity scattered like birds and beasts, the platform fell into silence, and token prices drifted downward. On the flip side, active trading users who were truly contributing fees to the platform were often at the end of the benefit distribution chain. PopDEX is attempting to break this vicious cycle. It aims to reconstruct the value distribution system, directly and sustainably returning the ecological value captured by the platform to participating users who make actual contributions, allowing traders to transform from "contributors" to "co-builders" and reach a consensus at the interest level. On May 22, PopDEX completed a $30 million strategic seed round led by Foresight Ventures. Partner Zac Tsui admitted that the future of on-chain trading will belong to platforms built around the actual needs of active traders, and the uniqueness of PopDEX lies in its attempt to return platform value to the contributors who truly drive its development. It is disclosed that the $30 million in funds will be used to inject initial liquidity, improve trading depth, accelerate product security audits, and expand the global team. Currently, PopDEX has officially invited some elite traders to participate in closed beta testing. The team will focus on cross-margin engine optimization, extreme market risk control, and streamlining trading processes to prepare for the public launch. In an era where point airdrops are rampant and "wool-pullers" (airdrop hunters) are rampant, PopDEX has chosen to embark on a path of "value return." Capital bets on "on-chain brokers," Variational claims the title of top fundraiser Even though PopDEX's financing amount is eye-catching enough, the top fundraiser in the Perp DEX track for the first half of 2026 is Variational. On May 20, Variational announced the completion of a $50 million Series A round led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from top institutions such

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