Which sectors led onchain flows?

TLDR

Onchain derivatives led flows this week, with onchain perpetual futures dominating activity and platforms like Lighter, Aster, and Hyperliquid driving volumes per recent coverage of onchain perps growth in the past month (onchain perps overview).

1. Onchain perps showed the highest sustained volumes; Lighter, Aster, Hyperliquid topped the leaderboards (perps surge).
2. DePIN and Gaming strengthened week over week, led by Filecoin (FIL), Render (RNDR), and Immutable (IMX) (sector rebound).
3. L2s and RWAs lagged overall, while Solana continued to lead onchain trading volumes despite thinner participation (Solana volumes note).

Deep Dive

1. Onchain Perps

The strongest flows concentrated in onchain perpetual futures, which have outpaced spot during quieter altcoin trading. Reports in the past month highlight roughly $972 billion in onchain perps volume, with Lighter, Aster, and Hyperliquid among the top venues (onchain perps overview; perps surge).

1. Leveraged exposure draws traders when spot is range?bound, keeping derivatives depth and turnover elevated (onchain perps overview).
2. Platforms have expanded access and speed, reinforcing the migration of active flow onchain (perps surge).

2. DePIN and Gaming

Decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) and Gaming showed notable weekly strength, with FIL and RNDR up and IMX doing much of the lifting for gaming indices (sector rebound).

1. Sector indices rebounded after deeper 2025 drawdowns, suggesting selective flows back into infrastructure and gaming assets (sector rebound).
2. Gains were concentrated in a few leaders, implying breadth remains uneven.

3. L2s, RWAs, and Solana Volumes

Layer?2s and RWAs were mixed to weaker overall last week, even as some individual L2 names posted gains; simultaneously, Solana continued to lead onchain trading volumes despite softer activity breadth (sector rebound; Solana volumes note).

1. Divergence inside L2s (some up, some down) points to idiosyncratic catalysts rather than a uniform flow regime (sector rebound).
2. Solanas high volumes persist, but user activity dipped, indicating more selective participation (Solana volumes note).

Conclusion

Onchain flows this week were led by derivatives, with perps DEXs capturing the bulk of activity. Thematic strength rotated into DePIN and Gaming, while L2s and RWAs saw uneven traction. For actionable monitoring, track perps venue volumes, sector leaders catalysts, and venue?specific liquidity to gauge where flows are concentrating next.