Best perp DEXs on Solana, ranked by risk
Short answer: On risk, Jupiter Perps is where we'd start on Solana: it scores 83/100 (Lower risk), with no bridge and no exploit in our sources, though it costs more than an order book. GMX (69/100) and Pacifica (53/100) carry bigger known flags. Velocity, the former Drift, relaunched in stages in late Sep 2026 (CryptoTicker) after a $295M exploit (Decrypt) and isn't scored yet.
Solana perp DEXs at a glance
| Venue | Model | Perpd risk score | Status (14 Nov 2026) | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jupiter Perps | Oracle-priced pool (JLP) | 83/100 (Lower risk) | Live | 0.06% to open and to close, plus hourly borrow fees (Jupiter docs) |
| GMX (Solana deployment) | Oracle pool | 69/100 (Some known risks), scored across all chains | Live; GMTrade merged back into GMX on 23 Oct 2026, per SolanaFloor (TradingView) | Solana volume swollen by points farming, since collapsed (DefiLlama adapter PR) |
| Pacifica | Order book, off-chain matching | 53/100 (Read the flags) | Live, closed-beta limits | Operator hot wallet, no documented escape hatch (Pacifica docs) |
| Velocity (formerly Drift) | Perps exchange, rebuilt after the exploit | Not yet scored by Perpd | Relaunched in stages, Sep 2026 | Recovery tokens first paid about 1 cent per $1 lost (The Block) |
| Phoenix Perpetuals | On-chain perps by Ellipsis Labs | Not yet scored by Perpd | Live; open sign-up per Solana Compass, private beta per QuickNode | Short track record; bars the US, Canada and UK |
| Bulk | Perps exchange | Not yet scored by Perpd | Sources differ: mainnet 1 Jun 2026 (Solana Compass) or invite-only launch 5 Sep 2026 (Crypto Briefing via Pluang) | New, few public details |
| Adrena | Oracle-priced peer-to-pool | Not yet scored by Perpd | Live | Advertises up to 100x leverage (Adrena) |
| Flash Trade | Perps exchange | Not yet scored by Perpd | Winding down since 7 Aug 2026; withdrawals open (Solana Compass) | Withdraw rather than open new positions |
Scored venues are listed in score order as of 14 Nov 2026. Scores cover 7 of 8 factors and move when we re-score, so the live numbers are on the Perp DEX risk scorecard: 10 DEXs ranked by risk. Fees change too: check each venue's own page before you trade.
How do the scored Solana venues compare?
Jupiter Perps: 83/100
Jupiter Perps is an "LP-to-trader perpetual exchange based on oracle prices" (DefiLlama): you trade against the JLP pool, not against other traders. It runs as a Solana program, so no bridge sits between you and your collateral, and we found no reported withdrawal pauses.
- Size: $5.86B of perp volume over 30 days and $631.43M of TVL, per DefiLlama data to 12 Nov 2026.
- Security: audited by OtterSec (2023), Sec3 (Jan 2024) and Offside Labs (Feb 2024). Jupiter says its newer beta markets run on a separate engine those audits don't cover (Jupiter docs).
- Access: operated by Block Raccoon S.A. under Panama law. The restricted list includes the US, China and Singapore (Jupiter terms, checked 9 Nov 2026).
- Watch out for: cost. As of 14 Nov 2026, opening and closing each cost 0.06%, price impact can push the total to 0.50%, and a borrow fee accrues every hour. If you're liquidated, you lose all remaining collateral (Jupiter docs).
Full breakdown: Jupiter Perps risk score: 83/100.
GMX on Solana: 69/100
GMX is an oracle-pool DEX that we score as a single protocol across Arbitrum, Avalanche and Solana. Its Solana deployment began as GMXSOL in Mar 2025, ran as the standalone GMTrade from Nov 2025, and merged back into GMX on 23 Oct 2026, the same day GMX launched builder fees on Solana, per SolanaFloor (TradingView; TokenPost). We didn't find a GMX announcement of the merger on its own channels.
- Volume: DefiLlama puts $24.06B of GMX's $25.76B 30-day volume on Solana (DefiLlama, checked 14 Nov 2026). DefiLlama's adapter maintainers flagged wallets farming GMTrade's GT points program as "one operation rather than a population of traders" (GitHub), and 24-hour Solana volume has since dropped to $15.57M. That's why volume scores 4/10.
- Security: an exploit drained $42M from GMX's old V1 GLP pool on Arbitrum on 9 Jul 2025. GMX paid out about $44M to make affected GLP holders whole (The Block).
- Cost: 0.04% or 0.06% to open and close, plus a borrow fee paid by the side with more open interest (GMX docs, checked 9 Nov 2026).
- Watch out for: no operating entity is named anywhere we looked. Its interface terms bar US persons, per a third-party reading on 23 Sep 2026 (PerpFinder).
Full breakdown: GMX risk score: 69/100.
Pacifica: 53/100
Pacifica matches orders off-chain and settles on Solana. Its mainnet launched in June 2025 (DEXTools). Base-tier fees are 0.015% maker and 0.040% taker as of 9 Nov 2026 (Pacifica docs).
- Custody: the matching engine runs a hot wallet that can process withdrawals up to a set limit, and most funds sit in a Squads multisig cold vault whose signing threshold isn't disclosed. The docs describe no escape hatch for an operator outage (Pacifica docs).
- Limits: during the closed beta, account equity is capped at $250,000, and USDC withdrawals at $250,000 per account every 24 hours (Pacifica docs).
- Volume: SolanaFloor argued in Sep 2025 that Pacifica's volume lead "more likely stems from airdrop farmers, rather than organic traders" (SolanaFloor). Its docs list 10M points paid out each week (Pacifica docs), and it was still pre-token on 13 Nov 2026 (Orbit Perp Screener). See Which perp DEXs have points programs right now?.
- Watch out for: exit risk, which scores 3/10. On that factor Pacifica works more like a centralized exchange than a rollup.
Full breakdown: Pacifica risk score: 53/100.
What happened to Drift?
Drift: what happened
- 1 Apr 2026: attackers drained Drift. The Drift Foundation puts the loss at about $295.4M (The Block). Decrypt reports that Solana's durable-nonce transactions were central to how it was done (Decrypt).
- Who: Mandiant attributed the attack to UNC6862, which it describes as a "North Korean threat group" (The Block).
- Right after: Drift suspended trading and borrowing. Tether committed up to $127.5M for recovery, partners up to $20M more, and a $20M market-making facility for the relaunch (Decrypt).
- 1 Jul 2026: Drift rebranded as Velocity DEX, with a private beta planned (The Defiant).
- Sep 2026: Velocity relaunched in stages. CryptoTicker reports it opened its source code on 17 Sep, lifted its whitelist on 21 Sep and handed operations to a new team on 29 Sep (CryptoTicker). Phemex reported a restart "following a comprehensive security rebuild and audit" on 30 Sep, and co-founder Cindy Leow stepped down (Phemex).
- Oct 2026: victims can claim 1 DFX token per USDT lost. Each DFX first redeemed for a little over 0.01 USDT from a 3.11M USDT pool, and redeeming burns the token along with its claim on later payouts. Velocity plans to send 60-90% of net protocol revenue to the pool. Tether's commitment hadn't reached the pool dashboard at The Block's 2 Oct check.
Velocity is not yet scored by Perpd. A DFX token is a claim on future payouts, not cash.
Which Solana perp venues aren't scored yet?
- Velocity (formerly Drift): see the box above. Watch out for: a rebuilt system with only weeks of history since the restart.
- Phoenix Perpetuals: built by Ellipsis Labs and announced at Solana's Breakpoint conference in Dec 2025, when it opened a beta with a waitlist (KuCoin News, via MetaEra). QuickNode's builder guide still calls it a closed private beta (QuickNode), but Solana Compass lists sign-up by email, Google or wallet, new markets through Oct and Nov 2026, and no current waitlist. It bars the US, Canada, the UK and sanctioned countries (Solana Compass). Watch out for: no long public track record.
- Bulk: Crypto Briefing reported an official, invite-only launch on 5 Sep 2026, after an $8M seed round and $25.9M of USDC pre-deposits, with "a community-focused token airdrop" planned (Crypto Briefing via Pluang). Solana Compass instead dates its mainnet to 1 Jun 2026 and lists an "Aura" points program (Solana Compass). We couldn't confirm which is right. Watch out for: new code and airdrop-driven volume.
- Adrena: an oracle-priced, peer-to-pool exchange with an ALP liquidity pool and an ADX token. Its site advertises "up to 100x leverage". Watch out for: the pool takes the other side of every trade, and that leverage is far beyond what a careful trader needs.
- Flash Trade: announced on 7 Aug 2026 that it is winding down its perps exchange and seeking a buyer for its technology and brand. Withdrawals remain open during the process (Solana Compass). Its founder said Solana Foundation backing for a rival contributed to the decision (The Defiant). Watch out for: a venue that's shutting down; don't open new positions there.
- Bullet: the Zeta Markets team shut down Zeta's product to build Bullet, an app-specific rollup for perps (Blockworks). Solana Compass says its mainnet launched publicly on 29 Sep 2025 (Solana Compass); we couldn't confirm its current status from Bullet itself.
How we picked
- Venues that trade perps on Solana, checked for live status on 14 Nov 2026.
- Scored venues are ordered by the Perpd Real Risk Score. Unscored venues get facts only, not a rank.
- Exit risk (20%) and security (15%) count for more than fees (5%), so the cheapest venue isn't automatically the pick.
- No venue paid to be here. Full method: How Perpd scores perp DEXs.
Sources
- Jupiter Perpetual Exchange, DefiLlama, data to 12 Nov 2026
- Perps fees, Jupiter Docs, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Liquidation, Jupiter Docs, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Security, Jupiter Docs, checked 9 Nov 2026
- Terms of use, Jupiter, checked 9 Nov 2026
- GMX, DefiLlama, checked 14 Nov 2026
- GMX: Solana's largest perp DEX by volume merges with GMX (CoinMarketCal, citing SolanaFloor), TradingView, 23 Oct 2026
- GMX's Solana venue records $25 billion in October trading volume, TokenPost, 3 Nov 2026
- DefiLlama dimension-adapters pull request 8085 (GMTrade points-farming wallets), GitHub, checked 14 Nov 2026
- GMX $44 million compensation plan, The Block, 14 Aug 2025
- GMX V2 trading, GMX Docs, checked 9 Nov 2026
- GMX profile, PerpFinder, terms checked 23 Sep 2026
- How to use Pacifica, DEXTools, early 2026
- Trading fees, Pacifica Docs, checked 9 Nov 2026
- Fund security, Pacifica Docs, checked 9 Nov 2026
- Deposits and withdrawals, Pacifica Docs, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Points program, Pacifica Docs, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Pacifica leads Solana perps volume, a flawed metric, SolanaFloor, 29 Sep 2025
- Airdrop calendar, Orbit Perp Screener, updated 13 Nov 2026
- How Solana exchange Drift plans to repay users after $295 million crypto hack, Decrypt, 5 May 2026
- Drift Protocol rebrands to Velocity DEX ahead of relaunch, The Defiant, 1 Jul 2026
- Velocity co-founder steps down as exchange restarts after post-hack rebuild, Phemex News, 30 Sep 2026
- Drift opens exploit recovery claims with initial payouts of just over 1% of user losses, The Block, 2 Oct 2026 (updated 19 Oct 2026)
- Ellipsis Labs launches Phoenix Perpetuals on Solana, KuCoin News (MetaEra), 11 Dec 2025
- Phoenix Trade, QuickNode Builders Guide, checked 14 Nov 2026
- BulkTrade launches as Solana's anticipated perps exchange, Crypto Briefing via Pluang, 5 Sep 2026
- Adrena homepage, Adrena, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Flash Trade winds down Solana perpetuals exchange after three years, seeks acquirer, Solana Compass, Aug 2026
- Inside Bullet's goal to compete with CEX perps, Blockworks, undated
- Velocity replaces Drift after the hack, CryptoTicker, 1 Oct 2026
- Phoenix project page, Solana Compass, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Bulk Trade project page, Solana Compass, checked 14 Nov 2026
- Solana Foundation kingmaking debate, The Defiant, 12 Aug 2026
- Bullet project page, Solana Compass, checked 14 Nov 2026
FAQ
What is the best perp DEX on Solana?
On risk, Jupiter Perps is where we'd start: 83/100 (Lower risk) on Perpd's 14 Nov 2026 scores, with no bridge and no exploit in our sources. The trade-off is cost: 0.06% to open and 0.06% to close, plus hourly borrow fees.
Is Drift still running after the hack?
Drift rebranded as Velocity and relaunched in stages in late Sep 2026, about 6 months after its April 2026 exploit. Victims can claim DFX recovery tokens, which first redeemed for about 1 cent per dollar lost. Perpd hasn't scored Velocity yet.
Is Pacifica safe to use?
No perp DEX is risk-free. Pacifica scores 53/100 (Read the flags) on Perpd. Its biggest flag is custody: an operator-run hot wallet and a multisig cold vault, with no documented escape hatch if the operator goes down.
Can anyone trade on Phoenix or Bulk?
Sources disagree. Phoenix began as a private beta in Dec 2025, and Solana Compass now lists open sign-up outside restricted countries such as the US and UK. Bulk was reported as invite-only on 5 Sep 2026. Perpd hasn't scored either.
Related
- Jupiter Perps risk score: 83/100Jupiter Perps scores 83/100 on Perpd's Real Risk Score. Every factor, reason and source. Updated 14 Nov 2026.
- GMX risk score: 69/100GMX scores 69/100 on Perpd's Real Risk Score. Every factor, reason and source. Updated 14 Nov 2026.
- Which perp DEXs have points programs right now?Perp DEX points programs on 14 Nov 2026: which are live or ended, token status, how points are earned and the known controversies, all sourced.
- Pacifica risk score: 53/100Pacifica scores 53/100 on Perpd's Real Risk Score. Every factor, reason and source. Updated 14 Nov 2026.
Scores are never for sale. This page has no affiliate links and no paid placements. Not financial advice: perps are leveraged and you can lose more than you deposit.