It's true that perp platforms are zero-sum games mostly catering to extremely high risk traders that overwhelmingly rely on luck more than skill. I don't use perp platforms myself.
It's also true that perp platforms can provide very accessible and efficient hedging. For example, if you own NVDA and don't want exposure to their quarterly results volatility, you can take a much smaller amount of collateral than your underlying NVDA shares and use that to open a 10x leveraged short on NVDA in the same size as your main NVDA position. This makes you "delta neutral" so the USD value of your position won't change even if NVDA craters on quarterly results. All without selling your underlying shares. Then you can close the short after the quarterly results are absorbed by the market.
It's also true that perp platforms can provide very accessible and efficient hedging. For example, if you own NVDA and don't want exposure to their quarterly results volatility, you can take a much smaller amount of collateral than your underlying NVDA shares and use that to open a 10x leveraged short on NVDA in the same size as your main NVDA position. This makes you "delta neutral" so the USD value of your position won't change even if NVDA craters on quarterly results. All without selling your underlying shares. Then you can close the short after the quarterly results are absorbed by the market.
Separately, here is a list of transformative benefits of public decentralized chains https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175312