Decibel goes live on Aptos with fully onchain perpetuals exchange

CoinDesk

by Oliver Knight

February 26, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Decibel, a fully on-chain perpetuals exchange developed by Aptos Labs, has officially launched its mainnet on the Aptos blockchain. This marks a significant milestone for the platform, which raised over $58 million through a pre-deposit campaign and boasts an impressive testnet phase with 700,000 unique accounts and 132,000 daily active users. Decibel’s innovative approach includes a central limit order book where all aspects of trading—order placement, matching, settlement, and risk management—are conducted on-chain using smart contracts. This eliminates the need for off-chain systems commonly used by traditional exchanges, offering greater transparency and deterministic outcomes for users. The platform leverages Aptos’ high-speed infrastructure, with block times under 50 milliseconds and finality under 500 milliseconds, ensuring efficient trading operations. Decibel’s order book and risk engine are fully on-chain, with a dollar-denominated stablecoin called usDCBL, issued by Stripe’s Bridge, serving as the default collateral. Users can fund their accounts using Aptos, Ethereum, Solana, or centralized exchanges, with over 40% of pre-deposit capital originating from Ethereum and Solana. Decibel enters an increasingly competitive market for on-chain perpetuals exchanges, where Hyperliquid remains a dominant player by volume. Despite the crowded field, Decibel aims to capture market share in a sector that has seen $920 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days, according to DeFiLlama. The platform plans to expand its offerings in the future, including spot markets, multi-collateral accounts, and tokenized real-world assets, signaling its ambition to grow beyond crypto derivatives. Decibel’s launch is significant for several reasons. It represents a major step forward in on-chain perpetuals trading, offering a more transparent and deterministic alternative to traditional exchanges. The platform’s use of Aptos’ high-performance blockchain ensures fast execution times and low fees, making it an attractive option for both retail and institutional traders. Additionally, Decibel’s focus on expanding its product offerings beyond derivatives positions it as a potential leader in the broader DeFi space. For readers interested in crypto and decentralized finance, Decibel’s launch highlights the ongoing evolution of trading platforms and the growing adoption of on-chain solutions. The platform’s unique combination of speed, transparency, and robust risk management

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Originally published on CoinDesk on 2/26/2026