🔥 The Perps Revolution: Extended & Rise Prove DeFi Fundamentals…

💼 The Fundamentals Era Has Arrived

The crypto market is undergoing a profound shift. After years of speculative mania, pump-and-dump tokenomics, and vaporware promises, a new class of protocols is emerging—one that actually makes money. Leading this charge are perpetual decentralized exchanges (perp DEXs) like Hyperliquid, Lighter, Variational, Extended, and Rise, which are generating real revenue, real fees, and real value accrual to token holders.

On today's show, two up-and-coming perp protocols—Extended and Rise—joined to discuss their growth trajectories, business models, and visions for the future of on-chain trading. Both are pre-token, yet already generating six-figure monthly revenues. This is the new standard.

"Hyperliquid is the golden standard. They've set the bar not only for perp DEXs but for the entire industry." — Russ, Founder of Extended

📊 Extended: Building the Widest RWA Coverage in DeFi

Extended, backed by eToro, Jump, and Aldabra, is positioning itself as the perp DEX with the widest offering of real-world asset (RWA) markets. The protocol recently completed a major fundraising round and has been aggressively building out its product suite.

Key Features:

Tokenized vaults allowing users to deposit funds and use them as collateral
Multi-asset collateral support, including yield-bearing assets
Spot and perp markets with plans to launch ~100 RWA markets in the coming weeks
RFQ-based markets for long-tail assets, combining order book liquidity for top assets with request-for-quote models for niche markets

Revenue & Growth:

Generating between $70,000 to $300,000 per day in fees
Volume ranges from $300 million to $1.5 billion over the past six months
Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 weekly active users

Extended's tech stack is a hybrid model between Hyperliquid and Lighter: execution happens on a decentralized validator network, while settlement occurs on StarkNet (a public ZK rollup). This allows Extended to benefit from ZK validity proofs while maintaining decentralized order matching and liquidation triggers.

"We believe we are best positioned to offer the widest coverage of both crypto and TradFi markets on the long tail of assets." — Russ, Extended

Extended's partnership with eToro is particularly notable. The integration will embed Extended into eToro's Zanko wallet, giving the protocol direct access to eToro's massive user base. This B2B2C distribution model could be a game-changer for on-chain perp adoption.

🚀 Rise: The EVM-Native Perp DEX Growing 10x Per Quarter

Rise, founded by Sam Battenley, has taken a different approach. Rather than building a standalone chain and then worrying about composability, Rise built a fully composable EVM stack from day one. This allows Rise to integrate battle-tested DeFi primitives like Morpho (for unified margin) and Yearn (for vault infrastructure) directly into the protocol.

Key Stats:

Launched 10 weeks ago
Already hit $2.3 billion in cumulative volume
Generated just under $500,000 in revenue in June
Profitable — expenses are covered, with surplus going into growth
Uses EigenDA as the primary data availability layer

Rise's growth has been entirely organic. The team has focused relentlessly on product quality rather than incentivizing volume through token emissions. This has resulted in steady, linear growth across TVL, DAUs, and open interest—metrics that all "look the same," according to Sam, indicating healthy, sustainable adoption.

"The day we launched, the entire company changed. We delivered pristine data that we could make decisions on. Every action we take, we can see how it results in fees and volume. That's been a game-changer." — Sam Battenley, Rise

Rise is also betting big on tokenized spot equities. The protocol sees perpetuals as the starting gun for tokenization—a way to bootstrap liquidity before spot markets can scale. Once tokenized equities achieve critical mass, perps will enable basis trades and hedging strategies that further accelerate adoption.

💰 Why Perp DEXs Are the Best Business Model in Crypto

Perp DEXs are cash-flow machines. Unlike NFT platforms, gaming tokens, or infrastructure plays with murky value accrual, perp protocols generate real, measurable revenue from trading fees. This revenue can be:

Bought back to support token prices
Distributed to stakers or token holders
Reinvested into R&D, liquidity, and partnerships

Hyperliquid set the gold standard by allocating nearly 100% of fees to token holders. This has created a wealth effect where the token itself becomes a compelling hold, driving further adoption and liquidity.

Extended and Rise are both pre-token, but when they launch, the expectation is clear: tokens will be tied to real cash flows, not vaporware promises. This is a seismic shift in how crypto tokens are valued.

"People want to invest in assets that take the token holder and make them a first-class citizen. The token is the equity. You know you're going to get consistent buybacks, and the business is going to keep growing."

🌍 Distribution: The Final Frontier

Both Extended and Rise emphasized that distribution is the ultimate differentiator. Hyperliquid dominates on-chain order flow, but the next wave of growth will come from:

Partnerships with TradFi brokers (e.g., Extended + eToro, Lighter + Robinhood)
Direct user acquisition targeting underserved markets (e.g., jurisdictions where perps are banned on centralized exchanges)
Tokenized equity integrations that bring Wall Street liquidity on-chain

Sam from Rise believes the low-hanging fruit isn't converting existing Binance or Coinbase users—it's serving users who are currently underserved. For example, Australians can no longer trade perps on centralized venues, creating a massive addressable market for non-custodial alternatives.

Extended, meanwhile, is betting on B2B2C distribution via partnerships. The eToro deal is just the beginning. Expect more integrations with European retail brokers in the coming months.

⚡ Robinhood Chain & The RWA Explosion

Robinhood's announcement of Robinhood Chain—an Ethereum L2 built on Arbitrum Orbit—sent shockwaves through the industry. Unlike previous "corpo chains," Robinhood Chain offers something unique:

Direct access to tokenized versions of all Robinhood assets
Native integration with Lighter as the official perp DEX
A new DEX called Rialto, a prop AMM for tokenized assets

The thesis: Robinhood already holds billions in equities on behalf of users. Tokenizing those assets is trivial—Robinhood doesn't need permission from the DTCC. They can simply issue tokenized representations of their balance sheet and allow users to trade them on-chain.

If even a fraction of Robinhood's assets migrate to Robinhood Chain, it could dwarf the on-chain liquidity of Hyperliquid and other native protocols. The metric to watch: assets on Robinhood proper vs. assets on Robinhood Chain. Right now, it's 99-to-1. Over time, expect that ratio to flip.

"This is the NeoFinance thesis. 99% of Robinhood's assets could eventually live on-chain. If that happens, protocols like Lighter will see exponential growth in volume and open interest."

🎯 What to Watch

Key Catalysts:

Extended launching ~100 RWA markets in the next few weeks
Rise continuing its organic growth trajectory toward $10 billion in monthly volume
Robinhood Chain onboarding major DeFi protocols and tokenized equities
Open USD (not covered in depth, but worth monitoring as a potential Tether/Circle competitor)

Themes to Monitor:

Power law dynamics in perp DEXs—winners will take the majority of market share
TradFi distribution partnerships accelerating on-chain adoption
RWA market expansion as perps bootstrap liquidity for tokenized assets

📈 Market Update: Bitcoin, Hyperliquid, and Summer Bounce

Bitcoin is consolidating near resistance after seven consecutive green daily candles. The MicroStrategy MSTR premium ("Stretch") has climbed back to 88%, signaling calmer nerves among leveraged Bitcoin bulls.

Hyperliquid continues to dominate with over $10 billion in open interest. Lighter, Variational, and other perp tokens are rallying alongside it. The market is rewarding real businesses with real revenue.

However, caution is warranted. Perp markets are built on volatility. If the market enters a prolonged period of apathy (as often happens at the end of bear markets), volume and fees could dwindle. The bet here is that new catalysts—SpaceX listings, tokenized equity launches, and TradFi partnerships—will keep the momentum alive.

🔮 Final Thoughts

The perp DEX revolution is just getting started. Extended and Rise represent the next wave of protocols that are building businesses, not just tokens. With real revenue, real users, and real distribution partnerships, these protocols are redefining what it means to invest in crypto.

As one guest put it:

"We've spent years talking about UX and onboarding. But the reality is: no one has cracked it yet. Once we do, there's potential for massive growth."

The fundamentals era is here. The question is: Are you positioned for it?

— The Rollup Team