What does it take to transform a decentralized perpetual exchange into a full-spectrum trading platform? For ApeX Protocol, 2025 answered that question with twelve months of relentless building, shipping, and scaling. From prediction markets to stock perpetuals, from AI-powered tools to industry-first integrations, this year marked a fundamental evolution in what a perp DEX can be.
Here's how it all unfolded.
Q1: Laying the Foundation
January kicked off with a bold statement of intent. The launch of the XP Program introduced a retroactive airdrop distributing 25 million APEX tokens from the 175M Treasury Plan. This wasn't just a reward mechanism; it was a declaration that long-term users and loyal traders would share directly in the protocol's success.
February brought a pivotal infrastructure shift as ApeX Pro migrated to Omni, consolidating the platform's architecture for faster development cycles and improved user experience. Alongside this, Staking 4.0 rolled out with enhanced rewards in APEX, giving token holders more reasons to stay engaged with the ecosystem.
The month also marked a quiet but significant milestone: ApeX became the first DEX to introduce portfolio margin with multi-collateral support. Users could now deposit cmETH, mETH, WBTC, cbBTC, and stablecoins like USDE and USDC, unlocking capital efficiency that had previously been exclusive to centralized exchanges. This wasn't just a feature update; it was a philosophical statement about what decentralized trading could offer.
March saw the debut of the Omni VIP Program, offering qualified traders up to 0% fees and generous rebates. The tiered structure rewarded volume while keeping the platform accessible to traders at every level.
Q2: Removing Friction, Adding Power
April delivered one of the year's most impactful UX improvements. Through the ApeX x Privy integration, users could now create accounts using just an email address. No wallet setup required for newcomers; no seed phrase management for casual traders. This was ApeX moving one step closer to achieving CEX-like smooth onboarding while maintaining full self-custody under the hood. The accompanying $200,000 USDT prize pool certainly helped drive adoption.
May introduced two features that would define the platform's direction for the rest of the year. First, cbBTC deposits went live, expanding collateral options and bringing Bitcoin-native liquidity into the Omni ecosystem.
More significantly, Alpha Radar launched, bringing AI-powered token discovery to ApeX Omni Spot. This wasn't another generic screener tool. Alpha Radar used machine learning to surface emerging opportunities before they hit mainstream radar, giving traders an informational edge that had previously required hours of manual research.
June completed the quarter with the launch of the ApeX Official Vault. Protocol Vaults offered users stable returns backed by real trading fees, a low-risk, high-yield opportunity that put idle capital to work. For traders looking to earn without active management, this opened an entirely new way to participate in the ApeX ecosystem.
Q3: Pioneering New Markets
July marked the beginning of ApeX's expansion beyond traditional crypto markets. US Stock trading went live on Omni Spot, allowing users to trade equities 24/7 using just USDT. No brokerage accounts, no market hours restrictions, no geographic limitations.
But the bigger story was Prediction Markets. When ApeX launched prediction trading in July, it wasn't just adding another product; it was creating an entirely new category. ApeX became the only DEX offering derivatives on prediction markets, combining the speculative appeal of event-based trading with the capital efficiency of perpetual contracts. Traders could now take leveraged positions on real-world outcomes with the same infrastructure that powered crypto perps.
August built on this momentum with the Prediction Market Content Challenge on X, driving community engagement while educating users on this new trading frontier.
September introduced the APEX Token Buyback Program, fundamentally changing the protocol's tokenomics. With 50% of supply already burned and weekly buybacks funded by platform revenue, APEX became a net deflationary asset. This wasn't vague "value accrual" language; it was real revenue flowing back to token holders through systematic market purchases. The Gorilla Bid Fund made these buybacks transparent and verifiable, with transaction links published weekly.
Q4: Scaling and Integration
October arrived with three major developments. Ape Season 1 launched, bringing gamified trading competitions and rewards that drove unprecedented engagement. The AI Trading Arena followed, creating a competitive environment for algorithmic strategies.
The month also delivered a revamped VIP Structure with improved tiers and benefits. More importantly, trading volume jumped multiple times over and remained stable, validating that the platform's growth wasn't just hype cycles but sustainable adoption.
November brought institutional-grade infrastructure to ApeX. The Chainlink Data Streams integration enhanced price feed reliability and oracle security, a critical upgrade for a platform handling increasing volumes. RWA perpetuals went live through the Sunshine Pool, adding real-world asset exposure to the trading menu and bridging the gap between traditional finance and DeFi.
December capped the year with continued momentum. NBA prediction markets launched, bringing sports betting into the prediction market framework. Looking at the full picture, overall trading volume growth from January to December 2025 told the story of a platform that had successfully expanded its total addressable market while deepening engagement with existing users.
By the Numbers
The statistics tell their own story:
545,000+ global users trading on ApeX
$331 billion+ cumulative trading volume
Active trading across 5+ blockchain networks
Multi-collateral support with portfolio margin
The only perp DEX with prediction market derivatives
What 2025 Taught Us
This year proved that decentralized trading doesn't have to mean compromised user experience. Email onboarding, AI-powered tools, and CEX-grade execution can coexist with non-custodial architecture and trustless settlement. ApeX demonstrated that the ceiling for perp DEX innovation is far higher than the industry assumed.
The expansion into prediction markets and RWA perpetuals showed that crypto-native infrastructure can serve markets far beyond cryptocurrency itself. When you combine deep liquidity, leverage, and 24/7 availability, entirely new trading paradigms become possible.
What's Next
2025 was about proving what's possible. 2026 will be about scaling what works. The foundation is set: multi-market trading, AI-enhanced discovery, sustainable tokenomics, and an infrastructure capable of handling whatever comes next.
The apes aren't just keeping pace with the market. They're building the market that comes next.