[Exchanges](https://revain.org/exchanges/) › dYdX

# 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

## 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](https://www.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. [↗](https://dydx.exchange/dydx-chain-front-end-options)
- The dydx.trade front end is operated by dYdX Operations Services Ltd., described as independent from dYdX. [↗](https://dydx.exchange/dydx-chain-front-end-options)
- Perpetuals trading is prohibited for persons in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom; VPN use to get around this is prohibited. [↗](https://dydx.exchange/v4-terms)
- The old v3 exchange on Ethereum halted trading on 28 October 2024; dYdX Chain (v4) was unaffected. [↗](https://dydx.exchange/blog/v3-product-sunset)
- On 30 June 2026 dYdX Labs launched Arcus, a separate DEX with Robinhood Chain; dYdX v4 stays supported and funds remain accessible. [↗](https://www.dydx.xyz/blog/a-new-arc)
- Fees are set by dYdX governance and can change; staking DYDX can give fee discounts. [↗](https://docs.dydx.xyz/concepts/trading/rewards)

## Services

| 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.

## Security incidents

| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 23 July 2024 | Hack: The dydx.exchange domain (dYdX v3 front end) was taken over at the registrar Squarespace through a social-engineering account recovery; the attacker hosted a malicious site asking connected wallets to transfer ETH and ERC-20 tokens. dYdX stated 2 users were affected with about $31,000 in lost funds, and that no smart contract, backend or dYdX Chain issues were found. An earlier nameserver change on 9 July 2024 was blocked by DNSSEC. Funds returned: not stated | [dydx.xyz](https://www.dydx.xyz/blog/dns-nameserver-hijacking-postmortem) |
| 10 October 2025 | Network halt: dYdX Chain halted after a misordered process in collateral pool transfers during liquidations in isolated markets triggered a protocol-level failsafe; after the restart, trades and liquidations were processed at incorrect prices due to stale oracle data until oracles were fixed on 11 October 2025. Funds returned: The developer proposed that governance compensate affected users from the protocol insurance fund: about 2.85% of the fund, roughly $462,000 of $16 million, if approved by governance. | [dydx.xyz](https://www.dydx.xyz/blog/dydx-chain-october-2025-incident-compensation-and-community-update) |

Further incidents are reported by third parties (press, incident databases) but are not confirmed in the company’s own channels, so they are not listed here.

## Fees

| 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

| 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](https://www.dydx.xyz/)
- Fees: [docs.dydx.xyz/concepts/trading/rewards](https://docs.dydx.xyz/concepts/trading/rewards)
- Terms of use: [dydx.exchange/v4-terms](https://dydx.exchange/v4-terms)
- Status: [status.dydx.trade](https://status.dydx.trade/)
- Blog: [www.dydx.xyz/blog](https://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

- [dYdX - Home](https://www.dydx.xyz/)
- [dYdX - Terms of Use (dydx.xyz)](https://www.dydx.xyz/legal/terms-of-use)
- [dYdX - Software Terms of Use (v4)](https://dydx.exchange/v4-terms)
- [dYdX - Chain Front End Options](https://dydx.exchange/dydx-chain-front-end-options)
- [dYdX Documentation - Rewards, Fees and Parameters](https://docs.dydx.xyz/concepts/trading/rewards)
- [dYdX - Annual Report 2025](https://www.dydx.xyz/annual-report/annual-report-2025)
- [dYdX Blog - v3 Product Sunset](https://dydx.exchange/blog/v3-product-sunset)
- [dYdX Blog - v4 full decentralization](https://dydx.exchange/blog/v4-full-decentralization)
- [dYdX Blog - October 2025 Incident](https://www.dydx.xyz/blog/dydx-chain-october-2025-incident-compensation-and-community-update)
- [dYdX Blog - A New Arc (30 June 2026)](https://www.dydx.xyz/blog/a-new-arc)
- [GitHub - dydxprotocol organisation](https://api.github.com/orgs/dydxprotocol)

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Page updated: 2026-10-31

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Source: https://revain.org/exchanges/dydx/