On-chain trading tokens: exchanges, perps and their cycles
This page scores six tokens behind on-chain exchanges and trading-focused blockchains, from Hyperliquid to dYdX, and explains why trading volume makes this one of the most cyclical groups we track.
Bull Market
6% confidence · UncertainSustained uptrend: greed rising, most coins well above their lows, momentum strong.
In past bull phases, traders have typically set price targets, raised stop-losses and planned their exits.
Cycle 4: BTC peaked at $126,080 on 6 Oct 2025, 534 days after the halving · Alts average 84% below their ATH
Five live readings drive this classification
- Fear & GreedGreed
- Avg ATH distance83% below ATH
- Avg RSIWeak
- Zone mix80% buy-side / 7% sell-side
- Bargain ScoreUndervalued
Phase from 5 live indicators across 54 coins. Halving-to-peak history: 371 / 526 / 548 / 534 days (mean 495). Estimates, not forecasts. Halving estimate from mempool.space block height.
The phase comes from five live readings: Fear & Greed, the average distance below ATH, average RSI, the mix of zones and the average Bargain Score. Each is scored from 0 (bull) to 100 (bear), then averaged. An average of 70 or more reads as Accumulation, 50 Early Recovery, 30 Bull Market, 15 Euphoria, and anything lower Distribution.
- Fear & Greed: Greed.
- Avg ATH distance: 83% below ATH.
- Avg RSI: Weak.
- Zone mix: 80% buy-side / 7% sell-side.
- Bargain Score: Undervalued.
Confidence is how far the average sits from the 50 midpoint, doubled. The countdowns use the block-height estimate for the next halving and the average halving-to-peak gap of past cycles. They are historical patterns, not forecasts. Next halving estimate plus the mean halving-to-peak gap over 4 cycles (371 / 526 / 548 / 534 days).
Read the full methodTop coins by market cap
BNB BNB
Uniswap UNI
Internet Computer ICP
Optimism OP
Filecoin FIL
Showing 6 coins · sorted by Zone score, high to low
- 1
Synthetix
SNX · DeFiPrice$0.241324h+2.73%Position0.7% of rangeMkt cap$140MVolume$8.6MRSI41Zone score70/100Discount, strength 4 of 5Zone score 60–79: Price is clearly below its usual range for this point in its cycle. How zones workCycle targetsBase $32.81 (+13,496%)Price 99.1% below ATH · greed high · structural collapse riskSynthetix is 99.1% below its all-time high while the market is greedy. The Bargain Score puts it at a meaningful discount.
Bargain Score 68/100 (Meaningful discount). Risk level High.
- 2
Injective
INJ · DeFiPrice$8.1424h+14.7%Position14% of rangeMkt cap$814MVolume$190MRSI59Zone score69/100Discount, strength 4 of 5Zone score 60–79: Price is clearly below its usual range for this point in its cycle. How zones workCycle targetsBase $60.51 (+643%)Price 85% below ATH · greed highInjective is 85% below its all-time high while the market is greedy. The Bargain Score puts it at a meaningful discount.
Bargain Score 66/100 (Meaningful discount). Risk level Low.
- 3
GMX
GMX · Trading InfrastructurePrice$8.5624h+9.28%Position4.4% of rangeMkt cap$89.6MVolume$5.5MRSI60Zone score47/100Mild discount, strength 3 of 5Zone score 40–59: Price is a little below its usual range for this point in its cycle. How zones workCycle targetsBase $104.73 (+1,124%)Price 91% below ATH · greed highGMX is 91% below its all-time high while the market is greedy. The Bargain Score puts it interesting, but not yet at deep-discount levels.
Bargain Score 59/100 (Watch). Risk level Medium.
- 4
Sei
SEI · Layer 1Price$0.064724h+6.45%Position2.4% of rangeMkt cap$436MVolume$66.9MRSI36Zone score47/100Mild discount, strength 3 of 5Zone score 40–59: Price is a little below its usual range for this point in its cycle. How zones workCycle targetsBase $1.31 (+1,926%)Price 94% below ATH · greed high · longs crowdedSei is 94% below its all-time high while the market is greedy. The Bargain Score puts it interesting, but not yet at deep-discount levels.
Bargain Score 52/100 (Watch). Risk level Medium.
- 5
dYdX
DYDX · Trading InfrastructurePrice$0.135724h+7.25%Position1.3% of rangeMkt cap$115MVolume$5.5MRSI44Zone score45/100Mild discount, strength 3 of 5Zone score 40–59: Price is a little below its usual range for this point in its cycle. How zones workCycle targetsBase $5.20 (+3,732%)Price 97% below ATH · greed high · structural collapse riskdYdX is 97% below its all-time high while the market is greedy. The Bargain Score puts it interesting, but not yet at deep-discount levels.
Bargain Score 59/100 (Watch). Risk level High.
- 6
Hyperliquid
HYPE · Trading InfrastructurePrice$82.2124h+2.30%Position83% of rangeMkt cap$18.3BVolume$804MRSI35Zone score20/100Fair value, strength 2 of 5Zone score 20–39: Price is close to its usual range for this point in its cycle. How zones workCycle targetsBase $112.65 (+37.0%)Price 16% below ATH · greed high · longs crowdedHyperliquid is 16% below its all-time high while the market is greedy. The Bargain Score puts it not showing strong value signals.
Bargain Score 26/100 (No value signal). Risk level Medium.
End of the list
6 of 54 coins shown. Search above to add another coin, or see which coins changed zone today.
Today’s zone changes
About trading infrastructure
Key takeaways
- These are tokens of on-chain exchanges, mostly for perpetual futures, and many share trading fees with holders.
- Fee income and prices tend to climb together late in bull markets and fall together afterwards.
- Leadership changes fast: on 10 October 2026 dYdX was 99.5% below its 2021 high and Hyperliquid 12% below its own.
These are the tokens of exchanges that run on blockchains, mostly for perpetual futures, which are contracts with no expiry date that are usually traded with borrowed money. Hyperliquid, dYdX and GMX run perp exchanges, Synthetix provides the synthetic assets that other trading apps are built on, and Injective and Sei are blockchains designed around order books and fast settlement.
Many of them share trading fees with token holders in some form: GMX pays a share to stakers, Injective uses fees to buy and burn tokens weekly, and Hyperliquid directs fees into buying its own token.
That fee link is why the group is so cyclical. Trading volume rises with volatility and with appetite for borrowing to trade, and both of those peak late in bull markets, so fee income and token prices tend to climb together and then fall together.
On the latest snapshot
As of 14 Oct, 02:00 BST, the median trading infrastructure coin on our list is 92% below its all-time high, 5 of the 6 are in a discount zone, and the highest Bargain Score in the group belongs to Synthetix at 68.
The group also shows how quickly leadership can change. dYdX was the leading on-chain perp exchange in 2021 and set its high that September, and on 10 October 2026 it was 99.5% below it. Hyperliquid only launched its token in November 2024 and set a new high as recently as 23 September 2026; on the same October day it was 12% below that.
The risks we would single out are exploits, because these contracts hold large amounts of customers' collateral, liquidity moving to a competitor, which can happen within months, and regulation, since selling crypto derivatives to retail traders is restricted in many countries, including the UK.
How the scores work
Every formula and data source behind the Bargain Score and the zones, checked against the code.
Read the methodology How the screener reads these coins
Coins near their highs, which in this group can include the current market leader, often trip the sell-side checks, and being within 5% of the all-time high counts towards the Expensive zone on its own. Meanwhile the older exchange tokens can sit 90% or more below their 2021 highs and score well on distress, so on a day like 10 October 2026, with Hyperliquid 12% off its high and dYdX 99.5% off its, this theme had coins at both ends of the scale at once.
FAQ
Questions about trading infrastructure
What is a perpetual future?
A futures contract with no expiry date. Traders can hold a long or short position, usually with borrowed money, for as long as they like, and a funding payment between longs and shorts, usually every eight hours, keeps the contract price close to the spot price. Positive funding means longs pay shorts, which tends to happen when the market is crowded on the long side. The screener uses that funding rate as one of its sentiment inputs.
Why do exchange tokens fall so far in bear markets?
Because their income and their story fall at the same time. In a bear market volatility drops, fewer people trade with borrowed money and fee income shrinks, and any buyback or staking yield linked to fees shrinks with it, while a token that was priced on rapid growth gets re-priced on slower growth. dYdX, GMX and Synthetix are all more than 90% below their highs, although they peaked at different times: Synthetix in February 2021, dYdX in September 2021 and GMX as late as April 2023.
The same mechanics can work quickly in reverse, which is why the group can go from deep distress to the expensive end of the scale within a single cycle.
Are on-chain exchanges safer than centralised ones?
They remove one risk and add others, because on an on-chain exchange you usually keep control of your own funds, so the kind of loss customers suffered when FTX failed is less likely. But the funds sit in smart contracts that can be exploited, the price feeds that trigger liquidations can be manipulated, and there is usually no company to pursue if something goes wrong. Cryptoasset losses on either type of venue are not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the FSCS.
Important information
Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.
Cryptoassets are largely unregulated in the UK, so you are unlikely to have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong. Educational information only, not financial advice. Read our disclaimer.
The crypto cycle in more depth
- Market mood Crypto Fear & Greed Index Today's reading and every daily value since 2018, with how fear and greed lined up with Bitcoin's cycles.
- Bitcoin cycle Bitcoin halving countdown The next halving estimated from block times, and every past halving beside the cycle peak that followed.
- Real returns Bitcoin real returns Bitcoin's highs and drawdowns restated after US and UK inflation and against money printing.
- Real returns Real returns for every asset Shares, gold and crypto measured against inflation in dollars and pounds, and against money printing.