# Crypto Futures Exchanges by Open Interest, Read Against the Book

Updated: 24 September 2026 — Books captured 22 September 2026 — Venue facts read 18 September 2026 — Console View operations

## Answer

Hyperliquid tops the crypto futures exchanges by open interest at $8.7 billion published by
CoinMarketCap on 22 September 2026. On the site score Lighter finishes first at 13.3 of
16, while the deepest book read in the capture cycle was edgeX at
$29.2 million. At 100x, one percent against a position is the whole margin behind it.

## The crypto futures exchanges by open interest table, September 2026

The five largest reported books among the venues this site scores, plus the smallest. Rows run by the
score, not by that column. Every figure in it is the venue's own, published by CoinMarketCap on
22 September 2026.

| # | Venue | Reported open interest | Score | Maker / taker | Round trip on $10,000 | Markets | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lighter | $585.4 million | 13.3 | 0% / 0% | $0.00 | 214 | Hybrid, ZK-proven |
| 02 | Aster | $1.4 billion | 12.2 | 0% / 0.040% | $8.00 | 578 | Own layer 1, operator-run |
| 03 | edgeX | $635.5 million | 11.9 | 0.040% / 0.045% | $9.00 | 172 | Hybrid |
| 04 | Hyperliquid | $8.7 billion | 10.9 | 0.015% / 0.045% | $9.00 | 324 | On-chain order book |
| 05 | EVEDEX | $704.9 million | 10.5 | 0.015% / 0.045% | $9.00 | 52 | Hybrid |
| 06 | Paradex | $23.7 million | 9.8 | 0% / 0% | $0.00 | 63 | Hybrid, Starknet appchain |

Scale 0 to 16. Weights: Order-book depth 30 · Round-trip cost 25 · Loss and audit record 15 · Settlement and withdrawal 15 · Contracts listed 10 · Getting started 5, one formula for the whole site, fixed on 22 September 2026: https://wp-monero-miner.com/method

Entry-tier fees on the BTC perpetual; the round trip is two taker fills on a ten thousand dollar position. Access differs by country.

## Read-offs from the rows above

1. Largest reported book: Hyperliquid at $8.7 billion on $13.4 billion of turnover, its own figures, CoinMarketCap, 22 September 2026.
2. Deepest measured book: edgeX at $29.2 million within ten basis points, and only fourth on the reported column at $635.5 million.
3. Thinnest book here: Paradex reports $23.7 million and held $728.00, so a $100,000 order would have moved its price 158.11 bps.

## What a reported open interest figure actually is

It is the dollar value of perpetual contracts still open on a venue when somebody counts them.
Each venue works that out from its own records and hands it to the aggregators; CoinMarketCap
publishes what it receives, and on 22 September 2026 the six here ran from $8.7 billion at
Hyperliquid down to $23.7 million at Paradex. Nobody audits that arithmetic, and none of it
describes the queue a market order joins.

That queue is what is read. Each public BTC book is opened every ten minutes and what it holds is kept as the
median of what rests within ten basis points of the mid. In this cycle that was
$29.2 million at edgeX against $728.00 at Paradex — four orders of magnitude
between venues whose reported figures sit within a factor of thirty.

## Where the reported order and the measured order part company

Ordered by what each venue reports, the six read Hyperliquid, Aster, EVEDEX, edgeX, Lighter and
Paradex. Ordered by the BTC book read here, they read edgeX, EVEDEX,
Lighter, Aster, Hyperliquid and Paradex. Five of the six change place.

edgeX sits fourth on the reported column at $635.5 million and held $29.2 million inside
ten basis points — more resting bitcoin than the venue reporting fourteen times its open interest.
At the bottom the columns agree: Paradex is last on both, with $728.00 resting and a
$1 million order not filled by that book. Reported size and available size are
different questions.

## 01 · [Lighter](https://lighter.xyz) — size at no cost to enter or to leave · 13.3 of 16

Lighter's $585.4 million of open interest is fifth here, its $2.0 billion of
turnover fourth (CoinMarketCap, 22 September 2026). Its book held a median $16.7 million
inside ten basis points across 109 readings, and the default account pays
0% maker / 0% taker — a $10,000 round trip costs $0.00
([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees), checked 18 September 2026).

- Works: Nothing to pay entering or leaving at the default tier, on $16.7 million of resting bitcoin; Every batch proved on Ethereum, with a documented priority exit queue.
- Falls short: The free Standard account is deliberately slower than the paid one, 300 milliseconds against 140; One operator-run sequencer orders every trade, and no public bounty is published.
- Not for: a trader who reads a reported figure as a promise about fill speed.

## 02 · [Aster](https://www.asterdex.com) — the long tail, with a large reported book behind it · 12.2 of 16

Aster's $1.4 billion of open interest is second here, on $3.2 billion of turnover
(CoinMarketCap, 22 September 2026). Its BTC book read a median $14.7 million at
0.01 bps, level with Lighter at the tightest spread here, and a $1 million order would have moved it
1.06 bps. It lists 578 contracts at 0% maker / 0.040% taker
([Aster docs](https://docs.asterdex.com/trading/perpetuals/fees-and-specs/fees), checked 18 September 2026).

- Works: The longest contract list here, 578 perpetual markets across six asset classes; A 0% maker fee on every tier and a median BTC spread of 0.01 bps.
- Falls short: Core chain contracts are closed-source and the first phase has no external validators; The audits on show stop at the vault, earn and stablecoin contracts; chain and engine, none.
- Not for: a reader who wants the code holding the book to be readable.

## 03 · [edgeX](https://pro.edgex.exchange) — large bitcoin orders, where the book outruns the headline · 11.9 of 16

edgeX reports $635.5 million, fourth here, on $2.5 billion of turnover, third
(CoinMarketCap, 22 September 2026). Its BTC book was the deepest read here: a median
$29.2 million within ten basis points over 251 snapshots, at
0.04 bps, and 0.23 bps on a $1 million order
([edgeX docs](https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/home), checked 18 September 2026).

- Works: The deepest bitcoin book here, $29.2 million, at the smallest price impact; Withdrawals documented as working while the operator does not.
- Falls short: Makers pay 0.040%, more than at any other venue here, and no bounty is published; Stock perpetuals reject market orders while the underlying market is closed.
- Not for: a maker who expects to be paid for posting liquidity.

## 04 · [Hyperliquid](https://hyperliquid.xyz) — the largest reported book in the sector · 10.9 of 16

Hyperliquid's $8.7 billion of open interest is more than six times the next figure here,
on $13.4 billion of turnover (CoinMarketCap, 22 September 2026). Its book read a median
$8.1 million, fifth of the six, at 0.12 bps. Every order and
liquidation is a transaction on its own layer 1
([Hyperliquid docs](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/about-hyperliquid.md), checked 18 September 2026).

- Works: Reported open interest of $8.7 billion, six times the next venue on this page; A bug bounty paying up to one million USDC on a critical report.
- Falls short: A community vault lost roughly $4 million on one liquidation in March 2025; Third parties deploy 146 of the markets on show, and the operator reviews none.
- Not for: anyone who reads the app's market list as a vetted list.

## 05 · EVEDEX — bitcoin depth against a mid-sized reported book · 10.5 of 16

EVEDEX reported $704.9 million of open interest and $700.5 million of turnover to
CoinMarketCap on 22 September 2026, third here on that column and second on the book we read: a median
$18.6 million resting within ten basis points. The book is central and off the chain;
Arbitrum takes the settlement, position data arriving in batches
(EVEDEX documentation, logged 18 September 2026). The list runs to 52 contracts at
0.015% maker / 0.045% taker.

- Works: Median bitcoin depth of $18.6 million within ten basis points, second of the six here; Two CertiK audits of the smart contracts, the latest delivered on 28 July 2025.
- Falls short: Fewer perpetual contracts than any other venue here, 52 against 578 at Aster; No bug bounty programme listed on CertiK Skynet, checked 18 September 2026.
- Not for: a trader who wants hundreds of markets on one account.

## 06 · [Paradex](https://www.paradex.trade) — small orders only, whatever the reported figure says · 9.8 of 16

Paradex reports $23.7 million of open interest on $21.8 million of turnover
(CoinMarketCap, 22 September 2026), the smallest pair here. The book behind it held a median
$728.00 at 7.20 bps; a $100,000 order would have moved the price
158.11 bps, and a $1 million order was not filled by the resting
book. Orders sit off-chain, seen only by the operators
([Paradex docs](https://docs.paradex.trade/trading/privacy.md), checked 18 September 2026).

- Works: Nothing to pay on orders sent through the web interface, maker or taker; A bounty up to 500,000 USDC, and audits of the settlement contracts.
- Falls short: A median $728.00 resting inside ten basis points, the thinnest book read here; A maintenance bug liquidated accounts in January 2026 and the chain had to be wound back.
- Not for: anyone sizing a position from the reported figure, not the book.

## Book readings taken here

BTC books read in the capture cycle named below; medians of all successful snapshots.

| Venue | Median spread | Depth within 10 basis points | Impact on a $100,000 order | Snapshots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter | 0.01 bps | $16.7 million | 0.68 bps | 109 |
| Aster | 0.01 bps | $14.7 million | 0.42 bps | 252 |
| edgeX | 0.04 bps | $29.2 million | 0.02 bps | 251 |
| Hyperliquid | 0.12 bps | $8.1 million | 0.06 bps | 252 |
| EVEDEX | 4.12 bps | $18.6 million | 2.06 bps | 250 |
| Paradex | 7.20 bps | $728.00 | 158.11 bps | 249 |

## Source lines, copied exactly

> "Orders are only stored on the Paradex Cloud and are only known to the operators of Paradex Cloud." — Paradex documentation, order privacy, 18 September 2026. https://docs.paradex.trade/trading/privacy.md
> "HLP lost ~$4M over the past 24h." — Hyperliquid, official post on the March 2025 liquidation, 12 March 2025. https://x.com/HyperliquidX/status/1899768864705237211
> "User position data is written to the blockchain after sufficient changes have accumulated." — EVEDEX documentation, on-chain settlement, 18 September 2026.
## Method, limits and sources

Nothing prints here that was not polled or copied out with its date. Depth, spread and impact are this console's own work — every listed BTC book opened on this console's ten-minute poll, over the two days to 22 September 2026, each a median of what came back. The documentary columns came off each venue's own pages on 18 September 2026: fees, contract list, leverage ladder, settlement, sign-in terms, audit history. Open interest and turnover are neither — each venue's own report, as CoinMarketCap published it on 22 September 2026. Six weights, fixed 22 September 2026 before any venue was scored, score the 6 venues on this page ([how we rate](/method)). No account is held at any of them.

First line, the disclosure: publication here is paid for; row order is not. Settlement and the audit record are marked off documents: a console prints what a venue says of itself, not what it did. The fee column is a new account's rate, before volume tiers, rebates or cashback. Depth is measured, but on BTC alone and over one span of readings: a narrower contract holds less, and another hour reads differently.

## FAQ

### What is open interest in crypto futures?

It is the value of perpetual contracts still open on a venue when the count is taken. It grows when
a new position opens against a new counterparty and shrinks when one closes. CoinMarketCap put
Hyperliquid's figure at $8.7 billion on 22 September 2026.

### Which crypto exchange has the highest open interest?

Of the six venues here, Hyperliquid, at $8.7 billion as published by CoinMarketCap on
22 September 2026. Aster follows at $1.4 billion and EVEDEX at $704.9 million. All three are
the venues' own figures, and this list covers order-book venues only.

### Is open interest the same as trading volume?

No. Volume counts what changed hands over a period; open interest counts what is still held at one
instant. On 22 September 2026 Hyperliquid reported $13.4 billion of turnover against
$8.7 billion held, and edgeX $2.5 billion against $635.5 million. The two
move apart.

### Does high open interest mean an exchange is liquid?

Not reliably. Open interest counts positions already held, while liquidity is what a new order
meets. edgeX reported $635.5 million and held a median $29.2 million of resting bitcoin
in the readings here; Hyperliquid reported fourteen times as much and held
$8.1 million.

### Where does CoinMarketCap get its open interest data?

From the venues themselves. Each exchange publishes its own figure and the aggregator collects and
ranks them, which is why every open interest number here carries the venue that produced it and
the date it was captured, 22 September 2026, rather than an audit.

### Can open interest be inflated?

Nothing published forces a venue's figure to be checked, so a reader cannot verify it from
outside. What a reader can check is the book: in the capture cycle here Paradex reported
$23.7 million and rested $728.00 within ten basis points of the mid.

### How much does a $100,000 order move the price on a perp DEX?

It depends on the book, not on the reported figure. Against the books read here in this
capture cycle, the same $100,000 order was worth 0.02 bps at edgeX,
2.06 bps at EVEDEX, 0.68 bps at Lighter and 158.11 bps at
Paradex.

### What does rising open interest tell a trader?

That more contracts are held than before, and nothing about direction. Read beside price it is a
rough gauge of conviction, and beside funding a gauge of crowding. It is a venue-reported series,
so a change can also mean a change in counting.

### Why do two venues with similar open interest have different spreads?

Because a spread comes from market makers quoting now, not from positions opened earlier. In
this cycle edgeX quoted a median 0.04 bps and EVEDEX 4.12 bps,
while their figures on 22 September 2026 sat within eleven percent of each other.

### How often should an open interest ranking be refreshed?

Constantly, in practice: the figure moves with every position opened or closed. This page carries
the snapshot CoinMarketCap published on 22 September 2026 and the readings from the capture cycle
that closed the same day; those dates move only when the numbers behind them are taken again.

## Who publishes this readout

Console View operations, 24 September 2026. Placement on this site is paid for. Corrections: readout@wp-monero-miner.com.

Placement on this site is paid for; row order is not for sale. Each table is set by the published formula, or by the one column named in the line above it.