Three Estimates Put August RWA Perp Trading Above $700 Billion

Three separate estimates put August trading in real-world asset (RWA) perpetual futures above $700 billion, but their venue and contract coverage has not been reconciled.

One estimate put August volume at $701 billion, down from $766 billion in July. A second put it at $751.9 billion, up from $708.3 billion. A third, covering 19 venues, put August volume at $799.5 billion, compared with $792.2 billion in July.

The figures come from separate datasets whose venue and contract coverage has not been reconciled. They should not be treated as comparable measurements of one market-wide total. The estimates also differ on whether volume rose or fell from July.

Stocks or equities made up 62% of August volume in one estimate, 64.8% in another and 62.3% in the 19-venue count. Centralized exchanges accounted for 85% of volume in the $701 billion estimate.

Perpetual futures track an asset’s price without giving traders ownership of the underlying asset, and they have no scheduled expiration. The August figures measure monthly trading volume, not assets held or the value of outstanding contracts.