Decibel Trade launches onchain perpetual futures for SPY, QQQ, EWY
In brief
- Decibel Trade launched onchain perpetual futures for SPY, QQQ, and EWY on June 5
- SPY supports 50x leverage; QQQ caps at 30x; EWY at 15x leverage
- 24/7 trading available, unlike traditional exchanges closing at 4 p.m. ET
- Platform reported $42 million TVL and $178 million weekly trading volume at launch
Three ETFs, three leverage tiers
Decibel Trade's perpetual futures contracts launched with differentiated leverage based on each ETF's volatility profile. SPY, the most liquid ETF on the planet, gets up to 50x leverage. QQQ, slightly more volatile with its tech-heavy composition, caps at 30x. EWY, which tracks a smaller and more volatile South Korean equity market, tops out at 15x.
The leverage tiers reflect risk management logic—higher volatility markets get lower caps. This structure lets traders size positions according to market conditions rather than a one-size-fits-all maximum.
Always-on trading, onchain order books
All three markets operate around the clock. Traditional stock exchanges close at 4 p.m. ET, shut down on weekends, and take holidays off. Decibel's onchain order book doesn't care about any of that.
The platform uses a fully onchain central limit order book, or CLOB, for order execution—a model that differs from automated market makers common in crypto. Decibel's mainnet launched on February 26, and the early traction has been notable. The platform reported approximately $42 million in total value locked and $178 million in weekly perpetual trading volume shortly after the ETF contracts went live.
Testnet momentum into mainnet
The groundwork was laid during a testnet phase that attracted 700,000 accounts and over $50 million in pre-deposits. That user base and collateral now has a live venue to trade on.
Collateral comes in the form of USDCBL, a native stablecoin issued through Bridge, which is a Stripe company. A governance and utility token is planned but hasn't launched yet.
The infrastructure underneath—Aptos uses the Move programming language and a parallel execution engine designed for high throughput and low latency—supports the speed and settlement finality that onchain order books demand. Whether the platform can sustain liquidity depth as it scales remains the open question.
