That is because perpetuals demand something Ethereum's base layer was never designed to optimize for: extremely fast, low-cost, high-frequency trading. Today, much of Ethereum's perpetual trading activity lives not on the Ethereum mainnet, but on layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and, increasingly, Base. Ethereum's layer-2 ecosystem has become something of a compromise: preserving Ethereum's security while dramatically improving trading performance. Why Solana and Hyperliquid surgedStill, Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem isn't the only place where developers can build high-performance trading infrastructure. Several leading perpetual trading platforms either operate directly on Ethereum layer 2s or remain closely connected to Ethereum's ecosystem for collateral, settlement, and developer tooling.