dYdX: licences, security, fees and reviews

Decentralized exchange

In short

Legal entity: dYdX International Ltd, Cayman Islands (runs dydx.xyz)
Fees: Futures taker: 0.050% (5.0 bps) at tier 1, under $1M 30-day volume (as of 31 October 2026)
Risks and caveats: Not a regulated exchange: no licence is held for the protocol, and it is closed to US, Canadian and UK persons for perpetuals.
Checked: 31 October 2026

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Key facts

Type: Decentralized exchange
Exchange launched: 2017
Operator: No single operator: dYdX Chain (v4) is run by validators and governed by DYDX holders; software by dYdX Trading Inc. (dYdX Labs); dydx.trade front end by dYdX Operations Services Ltd.
Official site: dydx.xyz

Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources and regulator registers.

What is dYdX

dYdX is a decentralised exchange for perpetual futures (and some spot trading) that runs on its own blockchain, dYdX Chain (v4), released in 2023. Users keep custody of their funds; the order book is run by validators and fees are set by governance. The software developer, dYdX Trading Inc., has worked on perpetual markets since 2017.

Good to know

dYdX Trading Inc. and dYdX International Ltd state that they do not run or control the public dYdX Chain; front ends are run by independent deployers. ↗
The dydx.trade front end is operated by dYdX Operations Services Ltd., described as independent from dYdX. ↗
Perpetuals trading is prohibited for persons in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom; VPN use to get around this is prohibited. ↗
The old v3 exchange on Ethereum halted trading on 28 October 2024; dYdX Chain (v4) was unaffected. ↗
On 30 June 2026 dYdX Labs launched Arcus, a separate DEX with Robinhood Chain; dYdX v4 stays supported and funds remain accessible. ↗
Fees are set by dYdX governance and can change; staking DYDX can give fee discounts. ↗

Services

Services — dYdX
Parameter	Details
Derivatives	Perpetual futures on 200+ markets with instant market listings.
Spot trading	Solana spot trading through the front end and Telegram.
Own blockchain	dYdX Chain (v4), an open-source chain where validators run the order book.
Own token	DYDX, used for governance and staking (staking gives fee discounts).
Custody / wallet	Self-custody: users keep control of funds.

Security and audits

Trading is self-custodial; the developer states it never holds user funds.
The protocol has an insurance fund for liquidation losses.
On 10-11 October 2025 dYdX Chain halted after a liquidation-ordering error; the developer published a post-mortem and a compensation proposal for affected traders.

Fees

Fees — dYdX
Parameter	Details
Futures taker	0.050% (5.0 bps) at tier 1, under $1M 30-day volume (as of 31 October 2026)
Futures maker	0.010% (1.0 bps) at tier 1; rebates at the top tiers (as of 31 October 2026)
Deposits	Deposits of $100 or more are free, per the dYdX website (as of 31 October 2026)

Who can use it

Verification: No account-level identity verification in the protocol; users connect a self-custody wallet. Users must confirm they are not restricted persons.
Perpetuals software may not be used by persons in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom; no dYdX software for persons in sanctioned territories such as Iran, Cuba and North Korea.

History

History — dYdX
Date	Event
2017	dYdX Trading Inc. starts building perpetual markets trading.
2021	dYdX (v3) becomes the largest decentralised exchange by trading volume, per dYdX.
2023	dYdX Chain (v4) is released as a fully open-source chain.
28 October 2024	Trading on the v3 exchange halts; users withdraw USDC from the Ethereum contract.
10 October 2025	dYdX Chain outage during liquidations; compensation proposed for affected traders.
30 June 2026	dYdX Labs launches Arcus with Robinhood Chain; dYdX v4 continues.

Risks and caveats

Not a regulated exchange: no licence is held for the protocol, and it is closed to US, Canadian and UK persons for perpetuals.
Leveraged perpetuals carry a high risk of loss; the chain halted in October 2025 and trades at stale oracle prices were later reviewed for compensation.
Fees and parameters can be changed by governance votes.
dYdX Labs' new focus is Arcus; dYdX v4 continues to be supported.

About the company

Legal entity: dYdX International Ltd, Cayman Islands (runs dydx.xyz)
Legal entity: dYdX Trading Inc., doing business as dYdX Labs (software developer)
Founders: Antonio Juliano
Founded: 2017 (GitHub organisation created 5 January 2018)
Own token: DYDX

Official links

Website: www.dydx.xyz
Fees: docs.dydx.xyz/concepts/trading/rewards
Terms of use: dydx.exchange/v4-terms
Status: status.dydx.trade
Blog: www.dydx.xyz/blog

Questions and answers

Is dYdX regulated?

No. dYdX is a decentralised protocol without a financial licence; its software terms bar perpetuals use from the US, Canada and the UK.

What are dYdX's fees?

At tier 1 (under $1M 30-day volume) taker fees are 0.050% and maker fees 0.010% (as of 31 October 2026); governance can change them.

Who runs dYdX?

Validators run dYdX Chain; dYdX Trading Inc. (dYdX Labs) writes the software, and dYdX Operations Services Ltd. runs the dydx.trade front end.

Is dYdX v3 still available?

No. v3 trading halted on 28 October 2024; dYdX Chain (v4) is the current version.

Does dYdX hold user funds?

No. Trading is self-custodial, and the developer states it never custodies user funds.

Sources

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Page updated: 2026-10-31