perps.studio vs Aevo

Architecture Overview

Aevo and perps.studio are built on different technical foundations with different goals.

Aevo runs on a custom OP Stack Ethereum L2 rollup. It operates an off-chain order book (matching engine) with on-chain settlement on the Aevo rollup, which settles to Ethereum mainnet. The architecture is similar to a centralized exchange in terms of matching performance, but with on-chain settlement for transparency and non-custodial guarantees. Aevo supports both options (the original product focus) and perpetual futures.

perps.studio is an infrastructure layer that provides whitelabel trading frontends routing to Hyperliquid and Aster DEX. It does not operate its own chain, matching engine, or settlement layer. Instead, it leverages the infrastructure of established venues while providing operator-level features: branding, revenue sharing, referrals, and user management.

Options: Aevo's Differentiator

Aevo's primary differentiator is its options product, which is worth understanding even in a perps-focused comparison.

Aevo offers crypto options trading with an order book model, supporting both standard options and pre-launch token options (allowing speculation on token prices before they are listed on the market). The options and perps products share cross-margining, meaning a trader can use options positions as collateral for perps trades and vice versa.

perps.studio does not offer options trading. It is focused exclusively on perpetual futures. For teams whose users primarily want options or combined options-perps strategies, Aevo's product scope is more relevant. For teams focused on perpetual futures with operator-level infrastructure, perps.studio is more specialized.

The options market in DeFi is still significantly smaller than the perps market. Perps represent the vast majority of on-chain derivatives volume. For most operator use cases—launching a branded exchange for a crypto community—perpetual futures alone cover the primary demand.

Liquidity and Market Depth

Liquidity depth directly affects execution quality for end users.

Aevo operates its own order book with its own market makers. While Aevo has attracted professional market makers and generated meaningful volume, its liquidity is confined to the Aevo platform. Market depth on less popular pairs can be thinner than on larger venues. Aevo's pre-launch markets are a unique offering but typically have limited liquidity due to the speculative nature of those markets.

perps.studio routes to Hyperliquid, which consistently ranks among the highest-volume decentralized exchanges. Hyperliquid's order books for major pairs regularly have multi-million dollar depth within tight spread ranges. Because all perps.studio operators share the same underlying liquidity, even a newly launched branded exchange has access to this depth from the first trade.

For operators, the liquidity question is particularly important during the early days of a new exchange. A perps.studio deployment starts with full Hyperliquid liquidity on day one. An integration with Aevo starts with whatever liquidity Aevo's market makers are providing, which may be competitive for major pairs but thinner for others.

Operator and Whitelabel Capabilities

The operator infrastructure available on each platform is the most relevant comparison for teams evaluating how to launch a branded exchange.

Aevo is a destination exchange. It does not offer whitelabel infrastructure for third-party operators. Teams can integrate with Aevo's API for programmatic trading, and there are affiliate/referral programs available, but the user-facing experience is Aevo's brand. Building a fully branded exchange on top of Aevo would require substantial custom development.

perps.studio provides comprehensive operator infrastructure:

• Branded trading terminal – Complete trading UI with custom domain, logo, and theme
• Revenue sharing – Automatic fee attribution and revenue splits
• Referral management – Multi-tier referral system with configurable commissions
• Sub-accounts – Institutional-grade account hierarchy
• Vault management – Copy trading and fund management features
• Margin modes – Cross, isolated, and portfolio margin
• One-click trading – Streamlined execution for active traders

For any team whose primary goal is to operate a branded perpetual futures exchange with revenue economics, perps.studio provides turnkey infrastructure that would take months of engineering to replicate through a direct Aevo API integration.

Trust Assumptions and Security

Both platforms involve off-chain components that introduce trust assumptions worth examining.

Aevo operates an off-chain matching engine on its OP Stack rollup. While settlement occurs on-chain and the rollup inherits Ethereum's security properties through fraud proofs, the matching engine is centralized and operated by the Aevo team. This is standard for high-performance exchanges—the trade-off between decentralized matching (slow) and centralized matching (fast) consistently favors performance in practice. The Aevo rollup has a sequencer operated by the team, which means the team controls transaction ordering on the L2.

perps.studio inherits the trust profile of its routing venue. On Hyperliquid, the L1 has its own validator set with on-chain order matching. The perps.studio layer itself is managed infrastructure responsible for frontend delivery and fee calculation. Trade execution and settlement are verified on Hyperliquid's chain.

Both approaches involve trusting centralized components (Aevo's sequencer/matcher, perps.studio's frontend infrastructure). In both cases, funds remain non-custodial—users can withdraw directly from the underlying chain regardless of the frontend status. The key question is whether you are comfortable with the specific trust assumptions of each model.

When to Choose Each Platform

The right choice depends on what you are trying to build and for whom.

Choose Aevo if:

• You or your users want options trading alongside perpetual futures
• You need cross-margined options-perps strategies
• You want access to pre-launch token markets for speculative trading
• You are an individual trader looking for a multi-product derivatives venue
• You prefer Ethereum-settled derivatives (OP Stack rollup with Ethereum security)

Choose perps.studio if:

• You want to launch a branded perpetual futures exchange under your own domain
• You need deep order book liquidity across 100+ markets from day one
• You want built-in operator economics (revenue sharing, referrals, fee attribution)
• You need rapid deployment (days/weeks) rather than building a custom integration
• You are a protocol, DAO, or business adding perps trading as a branded product feature

Aevo is a strong destination exchange for traders who want options and perps in one place. perps.studio is infrastructure for operators who want to create their own destination exchange for perpetual futures. The two solve different problems for different audiences.