TL;DR
This week we’ll be looking at the longstanding dYdX Perpetuals DEX to figure out “Is dYdX a Good Crypto?” Despite being off to a slower start than its biggest competitor GMX Exchange (What is GMX Exchange?), DYDX has a lot going right for it with perpetuals on the rise as more crypto investors dip their toes into this new and exciting marketplace. But, there’s one major problem holding this technology back. Those pesky and criminally negligent regulatory agencies. Dragging their feet in an attempt to stall innovation has led to protocols like dYdX being forced to pivot in new ways. What effect will these changes have on the future of this market and does it even matter? All that and more in today’s Wealth Mastery Altcoin Review.
If you’re like me and reading this from one of the many restricted regions not allowed to interact with these marketplaces, then you know how frustrating it can be, sitting quietly on the sidelines. But, all of that is slowly changing and dYdX is one of those at the frontlines of this fight.
As we approach the release of the platform’s fourth software upgrade, we can expect some big changes in the near future for dYdX. The biggest of which is the introduction of a brand new dYdX Chain. Operating through sub-DAOS has allowed the dYdX corporate entity (which designed and developed the platform) to legally distance itself from the not-for-profit DYDX Foundation, where governance is based. Upgrading to Version 4.0 in June will dissolve these two existing sub-DAOs and create several new autonomous ones as a way to further decentralize the system.
What is dYdX?
Launched near the end of 2021, dYdX is a perpetual swaps exchange and marketplace for spot and margin trading. We covered how perpetual contracts work in the past. But, in case you need a quick refresher, these are a type of derivative that speculate on the future price of an asset, allowing traders to take large positions with minimal capital.
In the case of dYdX, you can leverage up to 20x times your position. The name dYdX represents a derivative notation made by some old mathematicians who used dy/dx when referring to infinitely small fractions of numbers. The dYdX platform provides a decentralized exchange service for buying and selling crypto contracts through their website or mobile app. This means that anyone who interacts with dYdX always remains in control of their funds. A key difference between traditional (custodial) perpetual markets and these (non-custodial) decentralized ones.
In total, there are 37 of these contracts currently available in this perpetual swaps marketplace. The key pairing for every contract on dYdX is USDC. This means that over 98% of the quarter billion dollars you see locked on dYdX is completely liquid. The ten largest contracts on the platform are Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polygon, Solana, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Filecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Avalanche, and Cosmos.
However, the highest concentration of interest is in ETH & BTC contracts, making up over 80% of dYdX’s daily volume. The platform has several incentive programs to keep users earning additional rewards. Including over 70 trading competitions and 1,500,000 DYDX tokens distributed every 28 days to users.
This amount used to be significantly higher until governance proposals…
Jesse is a passionate seeker of truth who enjoys educating others about Bitcoin.
As a free thinker and 2nd amendment advocate, Jesse believes each individual has the right to monetary freedom.
“The swarm is headed towards us” -Satoshi Nakamoto
