ARK Invest Q3 DeFi Report: Tokenized Equity Trading Heats Up, Perpetual DEX Open Interest Up 76%

Odaily reports that ARK Invest's Q3 2026 DeFi report shows tokenized equities became the main driver of the rebound in on-chain trading activity during the quarter. Spot DEX trading volume for tokenized equities reached approximately $50 billion, about 9x the previous quarter, with its share of total spot DEX trading volume rising from about 1% to about 9%. Overall DEX spot trading volume grew approximately 13% quarter-over-quarter to $571 billion, marking the first increase in nearly four quarters.

Robinhood Chain achieved approximately $65 billion in DEX trading volume and $51 million in network revenue in its first quarter live, with network revenue approaching BNB Chain's level over the same period. ARK Invest expects recent gas mechanism adjustments to bring the chain's revenue down from current levels. Total stablecoin supply fell approximately 3% quarter-over-quarter to $309 billion, but adjusted transaction volume grew approximately 16% quarter-over-quarter to $781 billion, while average monthly active addresses increased approximately 39% to 73 million. Perpetual DEX open interest grew approximately 76% quarter-over-quarter to $24 billion, while quarterly trading volume fell approximately 16% to $1.4 trillion; of that, Hyperliquid accounted for approximately $13 billion in open interest, or about 53%.