Lately there's been a surge in activity around Ionex, especially with their invite-gated Perps launch that's riding the same wave as MetaPerp's traction.

The execution layer feels responsive. What stands out? Users retain full custody of their assets throughout—no middleman holding your funds. Each position you open accumulates Ions, the native points earmarked for future distribution. Meanwhile, there's a buyback mechanism running in the background that continuously supports the protocol's token dynamics.

For anyone exploring this space, the self-custody angle combined with the incentive structure makes it worth examining as the DeFi derivatives landscape keeps fragmenting into niche players.