Trading volume for real-world asset perpetual futures reached $117.3 billion in August 2026, a 44-fold increase from the same month a year earlier, according to an a16z crypto analysis published on September 23. Onchain venues processed roughly $101 billion, or 86% of the total, while centralized exchanges handled the remaining $16 billion. Open interest rose to $4.8 billion at the end of August from $161 million in July 2025, an expansion of about 30 times. Equities represented 48% of volume, followed by commodities at 28% and indices at 18%, marking a shift from earlier commodity-heavy activity. The analysis identifies Hyperliquid's HIP-3 protocol, deployed in October 2025, as a key infrastructure upgrade that simplified the launch of new perpetual markets and improved liquidity sharing. It also said only one US-regulated centralized platform currently has approval to trade a single perpetual futures product, while onchain venues offer dozens of markets across equities, commodities and indices.