The increase in tracked Solana perpetuals trading is concentrated at GMTrade, a derivatives venue responsible for about 77% of the reported weekly turnover in DefiLlama’s Solana table.
Spot trading went in the opposite direction, presenting a more limited picture of demand than the derivatives headline suggests.
In the Nov. 10 snapshot, the Solana dashboard shows nearly $9 billion in perpetuals turnover over seven days, a 65.29% increase from the previous week. GMTrade, which DefiLlama lists as $GMX Solana, accounted for nearly $7 billion, up 105% for the week according to the displayed figure.
In the same dashboard’s seven-day comparisons, spot decentralized exchange turnover declined 5% to $9.9 billion, while stablecoin market capitalization dropped 4.38% to $14.5 billion.
DefiLlama’s Pacifica page attributes its total value locked (TVL) to Solana but categorizes its $2.6 billion in weekly perpetuals turnover as “off-chain,”—turnover outside the Solana table.
Turnover concentration and trading rewards
GMTrade’s reported weekly turnover divided by the table’s total amounts to an estimated 77% share. The rounded totals and growth rates also suggest that GMTrade’s weekly increase was roughly equal to the gain for the entire table.
GMTrade’s trading documentation says $SOL exposure can be backed by either wrapped $SOL or $USDC collateral. A dollar of leveraged turnover cannot simply be treated as a dollar of new $SOL purchases.
GMTrade’s GT documentation says users earn points through trading, providing liquidity and referrals; conditional treasury buybacks provide a possible route to $USDC.
The announced Season 2 terms make a referrer’s sellable quota dependent on GT earned through referred traders’ activity. Earning points, therefore, is not the same as receiving an unrestricted cash rebate.
The published fee documentation lists basic charges for opening or closing crypto positions at 0.02% or 0.024%, depending on whether a trade improves the balance between longs and shorts. The Season 2 announcement also described a change to the fee structure.
The incentives do not reveal how much they contributed to the weekly increase or how much trading might continue without them.
GMTrade’s connection to $GMX goes beyond its label. In a Sept. 16 governance post, GM Labs said $GMX Solana had been integrated into $GMX, but GT points remain separate from the $GMX token.
In a Nov. 3 forum reply, contributor Jonezee said buybacks on the Solana side were adding $GMX to the staking rewards pool.
Outstanding positions are the next test
The Nov. 10 perpetuals table reports nearly $174.9 million in GMTrade open interest, compared with $235.1 million for the table as a whole.
Open interest tracks outstanding positions; turnover measures the notional value traded over a period.
Assessing a weekly trend requires comparable observations over time, while stablecoin market capitalization measures the circulating balance valued at market prices. A decline in spot turnover likewise reflects activity.
The next test is whether GMTrade maintains its turnover in subsequent weeks, with open interest measured over corresponding periods. This would help distinguish recurring activity from a one-week surge while the broader spot market remains quieter.
Source: cryptoslate.com. Adapted by NBTC.
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