Perpetual Protocol is the DeFi project associated with the PERP token that developed smart-contract-based perpetual derivatives trading. The capitalized project name should be distinguished from the general term “perpetual protocol,” which can describe other systems for contracts without a scheduled expiry.
The documented Curie design
The project’s Curie, or v2, repository documents a deployment on Optimism, an Ethereum layer 2 network. Its published design uses collateral-backed trading positions and incorporates Uniswap v3’s concentrated-liquidity mechanism. Liquidity providers select price ranges, while traders obtain derivatives exposure rather than simply purchasing the underlying asset in a spot market.
This makes it an example of decentralized trading infrastructure whose behavior depends on smart contracts, liquidity and the supporting blockchain. Public source code helps developers examine an implementation, but does not by itself prove that every documented market or interface is currently available.
Distinctions and risks
Holding PERP is different from opening a perpetual position or supplying liquidity to a trading market. These activities create different exposures and should not be treated as interchangeable investments.
Leverage can magnify losses, collateral can become insufficient, and liquidity providers can incur losses as market conditions change. Contract defects and network or interface disruptions add operational risk. Historical Curie documentation explains that version’s architecture; current supported markets, access conditions and parameters require verification for the specific deployment.