The Problem With Perps in DeFi

Perpetual swaps (“perps”) dominate crypto derivatives today. Exchanges like Hyperliquid have built large followings by offering perps as the go-to product for leveraged trading.

But popularity does not equal efficiency. Speed doesn’t equal profit. And transaction fee distribution hides profits inside residuals.

With this much speed, market makers ask for speed bumps to stop being picked off — the taker problem. Yet sophisticated traders need to take as often as they make.

Perps suffer from structural flaws that make them a poor choice for serious traders:

1. Funding costs: periodic payments between longs and shorts eat into returns; they are unpredictable, manipulable, and unfair.
2. Concentration risk: with funding fee manipulation, small caps and alt tokens can’t attract liquidity, preventing “alt season.”
3. No term structure: perps lack expiries, so traders can’t hedge with precision or build reliable basis curves — leaving OTC markets dominant.
4. Poor portfolio offsets: perps are usually margined in isolation, forcing traders to over-collateralize positions. Sophistication is hidden by UX that blocks cross-margin, let alone portfolio risk recognition.

Result: traders leak capital on funding and margin, strategies are constrained, and alt season never arrives.

That’s why Jetstream set out to build a better alternative: real futures with on-chain clearing.

Why Futures on Jetstream Are Different

Jetstream delivers the first on-chain futures platform with institutional-grade clearing logic.

Instead of forcing traders to operate position by position, Jetstream uses portfolio margining and deterministic risk management.

This means:

• Capital efficiency: offsets between correlated positions are recognized
• Smart clearing: trades are guaranteed by the protocol, not opaque centralized rules
• Transparent risk: all margin, collateral, and clearing flows are visible on-chain

The impact is dramatic: Jetstream futures deliver up to 9x more profit than Hyperliquid perps for short-horizon traders.

Lower fees make day trading possible. The smallest price move your account can capture still generates profit.

Futures vs. Perps: The Numbers That Matter

1. Funding Costs Eliminate Returns

On Hyperliquid, traders pay (or receive) funding every eight hours. In volatility, funding can spike, destroying PnL and making cashflow hedging impossible.

That’s why big traders — even DeFi maxis — still trade OTC.

On Jetstream, futures converge to spot at expiry. No funding drag. Cashflows line up.

Result: Jetstream traders keep full profits instead of leaking them to funding.

2. Capital Efficiency and Portfolio Margin

Hyperliquid perps treat positions as isolated. A trader long ETH and short SOL must post collateral for both, even though risks are offset. Institutions won’t touch this — it kills ROI.

Jetstream futures clear through a Value-at-Risk (VaR) model. The protocol calculates net portfolio exposure. Offsetting trades require less collateral, freeing capital for more strategies.

Result: Jetstream traders can run larger, more diverse portfolios with the same capital.

3. Transparent On-Chain Clearing

Perp DEXs internalize clearing. Rules are opaque, liquidations are profitable for venues, and systemic risk is concentrated.

Jetstream clears on Pascal Protocol, an open, composable clearing layer. Every risk calc, margin call, and liquidation is executed on-chain and verifiable.

Result: traders don’t just trust Jetstream — they can verify it.

Case Study: 9x More Profit Than Hyperliquid

In a controlled strategy test:

• A short-horizon trader ran identical trades on Hyperliquid perps and Jetstream futures.
• On Hyperliquid, funding costs and isolated margin cut realized profit down to 1x baseline.
• On Jetstream, margin offsets and no funding drag compounded returns to 9x baseline.

This isn’t marketing — it’s clearing logic. By eliminating inefficiencies and enforcing deterministic rules, Jetstream rewrites the PnL equation.

Why Futures Infrastructure Wins in DeFi

The dominance of perps is a historical accident, not an innovation. They were created as a regulatory workaround to offer leverage without futures licenses.

But serious markets — equities, commodities, FX, rates — don’t run on perps. They run on futures.

Why? Because futures provide:

• Predictable basis curves
• Expiry-aligned hedging
• Efficient offsets in risk models
• Transparent clearing and margining

Jetstream brings these mechanics on-chain for the first time — uniting hedgers and speculators in one market.

Who Benefits Most From Jetstream Futures?

Pro Traders

Speed and precision. Capital efficiency enables tighter spreads, larger trades, and better basis plays.

Market Makers

Portfolio margining unlocks scalable liquidity provision. Freed capital = tighter spreads + deeper books.

Funds and Institutions

On-chain clearing provides verifiable audit trails, regulatory compatibility, and true hedging.

DeFi Traders

Day trading is finally viable. Fees in Jetstream are comparable to TradFi (0.25bps), not punitive DeFi rates. Now short-term 5–10 min trading is possible anytime, not only in high volatility.

The Jetstream Advantage in One Sentence

Jetstream futures give traders real edge: more profit, more capital efficiency, and real clearing logic — all on-chain.

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We’ve distilled the comparison into a short animated breakdown.

Conclusion: Perps Are History, Futures Are the Future

Hyperliquid perps may feel familiar — but they’re still perps. Isolated margin, funding drag, structural flaws.

Jetstream futures are different. Built on Pascal Protocol, they deliver capital efficiency, clearing safety, and profit potential.

The numbers don’t lie: Jetstream futures deliver 9x more profit than Hyperliquid perps.

And yes — we’d be happy to clear for them if they want to add real infrastructure to their great UX. 😉