Perp DEX is staging a "small ant swallowing an elephant" capital migration. How will our assets be defined in the future? According to Dexu AI data, in September, the mindshare of the Perp DEX sector grew tenfold, far surpassing other sectors. In the past 7 days, the daily trading volume of Perp DEX has consistently broken new highs, almost maintaining a daily increase of tens of billions. On September 26, #Aster even reached an astonishing daily trading volume of $35.868 billion, as if a swarm of ants had devoured and transported hundreds of billions of capital to a new nest in just a few days. A more fundamental question arises: are assets merely a line of fluctuating numbers in an exchange's database, or a programmable state uniquely verified on-chain by private keys that can flow freely? CEX is like a grand bank vault, promising security but locking away the ultimate sovereignty of assets; while Perp DEX is like a rushing dark river, it may be turbulent, yet it allows every drop of water (asset) to gain the vitality of self-determination. Your assets in the future will no longer be defined by custodians, but by your choice of which "river" to place them in.

1. The Power of Ant Colonies: Dissecting the Arsenal of a "Asymmetric War" The giants of the old world (CEX) rely on brand, liquidity, and fiat channels as heavy assets to build their moats. In contrast, the emerging ant colonies (Perp DEX) have launched an "asymmetric war" with a completely different arsenal: Chi1. Ownership Weapon: Shared Protocol Value When you trade on CEX, the transaction fees contribute to the platform's billions in profits; however, when you trade on Perp DEX, the fees are incentivized back to ecosystem builders and participants through tokens. As capital migrates, it also becomes the master of the protocol. This slight adjustment in the production relationship generates immense attraction. Chi2. Technical Weapon: The "Silent Upgrade" of Experience Layer 3, account abstraction, Gas subsidies... these technologies are no longer just concepts in white papers; they allow users to smoothly transition from Web2 to Web3 without feeling it. The boundaries of trading are melting away, and complex on-chain operations are encapsulated into a simple click. The highest realm of technology is to make its existence imperceptible. Chi3. Narrative Weapon: The "Lego Game" of Assets RWA, points, Memecoin... Perp DEX transforms trading itself into an infinitely expandable game, essentially "Lego-izing" transactions. The scope of assets is greatly broadened, from Tesla stocks to community consensus, all can become contract subjects. This is not just a migration of liquidity, but also a migration of imagination. #jiujiu #ASTER #PerpDEX #CEX

II. The Twilight of the Giant: Cracks in the Old Order and Self-Renewal The surge in market share for the Perp DEX track is an early signal and frontline battlefield of this grand power transition. It indicates that the most astute funds and developers have begun to place their bets on the future. Faced with the onslaught of the ant swarm, the giant is not sitting idly by. It is undergoing profound self-renewal, which in turn confirms the irreversibility of the trend: · Aster's trading volume increased more than tenfold in 5 days, jumping from 3.4 billion to 35.8 billion dollars, with its growth contribution accounting for more than half of the entire track. Analyzing the reasons for its popularity: support from CEX background, RWA asset narrative, and an aggressive token economic model. · Lighter, as a representative of the tech faction, saw its trading volume triple, surpassing 17 billion, proving the immense potential of the ZK tech stack in enhancing the trading experience. · Hyperliquid, as an established leader, maintains a trading volume in the tens of billions, demonstrating its deep liquidity moat. However, it has been far outpaced in growth percentage by new protocols and faces the pressure of "maintaining the status quo." Chi1. Embrace rather than confront: Just as leading CEXs are embracing the wave of decentralization through investments, incubation, or even directly issuing tokens (e.g., Binance investing in Aster, Paradigm incubating Paradex, and the boundless imagination of DEX 2.0 era with SunPerp), they are repositioning themselves from "exchanges" to "gateways to the crypto world," offering Perp DEX as part of their product matrix to users. Chi2. Focus on core advantages: In the foreseeable future, CEXs will still dominate in fiat entry, compliant trading, complex financial products, and large-scale transactions aimed at institutions. The result of this transformation may not be absolute opposition but rather a refinement of division of labor and ecological integration. Chi3. The core tension of the future: the eternal game between sovereignty and convenience · Absolute sovereignty means bearing absolute responsibility: this sets a very high cognitive threshold for most people. · Extreme convenience often means relinquishing some sovereignty: using custodial wallets, social logins, and other "abstracted" solutions essentially reintroduces trusted third parties. Therefore, the future winners may not necessarily be the protocols with the most advanced technology, but rather the ecosystems that can find the best balance between sovereignty and convenience. This requires protocol parties to be not just builders of technology but also excellent user experience designers and risk educators. #jiujiu #ASTER #PerpDEX #CEX #Lighter #SunPerp #Hyperliquid

3. Undercurrents and Reefs: A Survival Guide on the Migration Path On the voyage to the new capital continent, there are not only magnificent views but also hidden reefs that require vigilance: Chi1. False Oasis: The "Data Prosperity" of Click Farms Behind the high growth of some protocols lies the "mining" behavior driven by the pursuit of airdrop incentives. Once the incentives stop, will this oasis instantly turn back into a desert? Compared to trading volume, Total Value Locked (TVL) and Open Interest (OI) are more reliable indicators of the true health of the ecosystem. Chi2. Abyss of Technology: The "Black Box Risk" of Smart Contracts Placing assets in smart contracts means entrusting trust to code. Any undiscovered vulnerabilities could become an abyss that devours capital. This requires participants to have a higher level of risk awareness and discernment than in the CEX era. Chi3. Fog of Rules: The Unresolved "Sword of Regulation" Decentralization does not mean lawlessness. How global regulatory bodies treat these protocols that are not bound by geography will be the biggest variable affecting their long-term development. #jiujiu #ASTER #PerpDEX #CEX

IV. Defining the Future: The Cognitive Iteration from "Holders" to "Sovereign Individuals" The essence of this migration goes far beyond capital flows and technological iterations; it is a profound transformation regarding financial subjectivity. Each of us stands at a historic crossroads: will we continue to be "passengers" of the old order, or will we become "sovereign citizens" of the new continent? Ultimately, how we define assets depends on how we define our roles in this transformation. Chi1. Sovereign Individuals: Assets as Extensions of Will, Not Just Numbers on a Ledger · Core Characteristics: They view private keys as the "organs" of their digital bodies and see interactions with smart contracts as the "legislation" of exercising sovereignty. Assets are no longer stored wealth but a direct reflection of their will and beliefs on the chain. · Behavioral Patterns: Like managing a "mini central bank," they allocate assets across different DeFi protocols and participate in rule-making through governance voting. Their anxiety no longer stems from the collapse of CEX but from the boundaries of their own cognition. Chi2. Protocol Citizens: Identity and Assets Integrated into the Protocol Economic Ecosystem · Core Characteristics: Their identity is deeply tied to one or more protocols. Their asset returns are intertwined with the development and fortunes of the protocol. · Behavioral Patterns: They not only trade but also build the protocol by providing liquidity, participating in testnets, and community proposals. Their asset appreciation comes from the overall growth of the protocol ecosystem, representing a symbiotic relationship that transcends zero-sum games. Chi3. Algorithmic Nomads: Migrating Between Protocols in Pursuit of Optimal Risk-Return · Core Characteristics: Extreme rationalists who do not believe in eternal moats but only in incentives set by code. Their assets possess high liquidity and adaptability, representing true "nomadic capital." · Behavioral Patterns: Utilizing tools and scripts, they keenly identify incentive points, interest rate differences, and arbitrage opportunities between protocols, achieving efficient capital allocation. They are the ultimate realizers of market efficiency and the strictest testers of incentive models. Or perhaps X? In the end, who do you choose to become? The "ant swallowing the elephant" of Perp DEX is essentially a co-evolution of production tools (trading facilities) and production relations (value distribution). It forces us to answer a fundamental question: what is the ultimate form of assets in the digital age? The answer is unfolding before our eyes: assets will be liquid, programmable, and forever controlled by private keys. The most exciting aspect of this transformation lies not in the redistribution of wealth but in the opportunity it provides for every individual to become the creator of their own financial sovereignty for the first time. Your asset future will ultimately be defined by the cognitive boundaries and behavioral patterns of you as the "subject." This migration is not just a path conversion of capital but a great awakening for each individual towards financial autonomy. #jiujiu #ASTER #PerpDEX #CEX