Sai Perps launched February 18, 2026 as a new perpetuals trading platform designed to feel as fast and intuitive as a centralized exchange while settling fully onchain. Sai's mission centers on making advanced trading accessible without forcing traders to sacrifice transparency or self-custody, addressing a tradeoff that has historically pushed serious traders toward centralized platforms despite the custody risks involved.
What Makes Sai Different From Existing PerpDEXs
Compared to existing perpetuals DEXs, Sai emphasizes three specific differentiators. First, CEX-like UX with onchain settlement: a streamlined trading experience designed to be fast and familiar, with trades settling onchain for transparency and verifiability rather than relying on an offchain matching engine that only settles periodically. Second, infrastructure built for deep, smooth markets, with heavy investment in liquidity, risk systems, and oracle design to support consistent execution. Third, accessibility for both new and experienced traders, with an interface optimized for speed and clarity without sacrificing advanced trading capability.
Gasless Transactions as a Core Design Choice
The platform features gasless transactions, removing a friction point that has historically deterred casual traders from onchain perpetuals, the need to hold and manage a separate gas token just to execute a trade. Matthias Darblade, a Sai contributor, said onchain markets shouldn't require traders to compromise between speed and self-custody, framing Sai Perps as designed for active traders who want a clean, CEX-like experience while still getting the settlement guarantees that only onchain infrastructure can provide.
The Let's Go Saicho Trading Competition
Alongside the platform launch, Sai unveiled Let's Go Saicho, a one-month onchain trading competition running February 18 through March 19, 2026, with $25,000 in total prizes. The campaign runs in two phases: Phase 1 is a PNL competition rewarding profitable traders, while Phase 2 (March 5-19) is a first-come, first-serve "Be Early" phase with a $5,000 prize pool split across 50 winners, rewarding early engagement and minimum volume thresholds rather than pure trading performance.
Eligible Markets and Collateral
All markets listed on Sai are eligible for both competition phases. Traders may go long or short on any listed pair using supported collateral, including USDC and other supported assets such as stNIBI, giving participants flexibility in which asset they use to fund positions rather than requiring a single specific collateral type.
What Sai Is Building Toward Next
Beyond the initial launch, Sai is focused on finalizing its core trading infrastructure and user experience, building liquidity and risk systems for smoother execution, and laying groundwork for yield features that let users earn on idle collateral rather than having capital sit unproductively between trades. The stated roadmap includes expanded markets covering stocks, commodities, and FX, a planned Sai Savings product, cross-chain deposits, and smart accounts designed for gasless trading.
Why Expanding Beyond Crypto Assets Matters
Planning expansion into stocks, commodities, and FX markets signals Sai's ambition extends beyond being purely a crypto perpetuals venue, positioning the platform as a broader onchain trading destination if that roadmap materializes as described, though these remain forward-looking plans rather than currently live features.
Gasless, CEX-like onchain trading experiences like Sai Perps reflect the same accessibility-focused design philosophy seen in LeverUp's LP-free perpetuals model, both aimed at removing structural friction points that have historically limited onchain derivatives trading adoption.
Glossary
- PerpDEX: A decentralized exchange focused on trading perpetual futures contracts.
- Gasless transaction: A transaction where the user does not need to directly pay or hold a network's native gas token to execute it.
- Self-custody: A structure where a user retains direct control over their own funds and private keys rather than a third party holding custody.
Disclaimer
This coverage is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for financial or investment advice. Perpetuals trading carries substantial risk of loss. Confirm current competition terms and platform features directly through official Sai announcements.
