Crypto bets on war go mainstream

For India, this is especially relevant. Telegram penetration is high. Wallet adoption is growing. When leverage becomes one tap away, market participation scales quickly—for better and for worse.

Asset Expansion Widened the Market

Crypto-only perps capped growth.

In 2025, several decentralized platforms expanded into synthetic exposure for foreign exchange, commodities, and equities. Traders gained 24/7 access to global markets with leverage levels often unavailable in traditional retail channels.

This unlocked new demand, particularly in emerging markets where access to global derivatives is restricted or expensive. It also introduced sharper regulatory questions around investor protection, disclosures, and risk controls.

From a market-structure perspective, decentralized perps began to resemble a parallel global derivatives layer rather than a crypto-specific product.

Regulation Lowered Existential Risk

Regulation did not cause this growth. But it reduced the probability of sudden failure.

In the U.S. and other major jurisdictions, clearer frameworks around stablecoins and settlement assets reduced uncertainty. Regulators signaled engagement rather than blanket hostility. Institutions gained enough comfort to experiment.

For India, the contrast is stark. Domestic exchanges operate under heavy restrictions. Offshore platforms attract Indian users without local oversight.

Ignoring them does not reduce risk. It shifts it elsewhere.

Why 2025 Was the Turning Point

Each of these elements existed before. What changed was their convergence.

Infrastructure matured. Liquidity models improved. Distribution went mainstream. Regulatory uncertainty declined. Trading conditions rewarded active participation.

Together, they pushed decentralized perps from theory into reality.

What Comes Next

The risks are obvious. Embedded leverage increases the chance of retail harm. Product design choices now carry regulatory and reputational consequences. Enforcement gaps will be tested.

Competition will intensify. Speed will no longer be enough. Trust, risk tooling, and user protection will differentiate winners.

For policymakers and financial institutions in India, the lesson is not that decentralized exchanges will replace incumbents tomorrow. It is that global market structure innovation is happening outside traditional rails, at scale.