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dYdX vs Backpack Exchange

Same lines, side by side: fees, leverage, markets, KYC, custody and referral perks, from official pages and DefiLlama.

See the 14 differences
DegenBench#12dYdX
DegenBench#13Backpack Exchange

14 of 21 lines differ

LinedYdXBackpack Exchange
30-day volumeEdge#12 · $1,037.0M#13 · Not tracked
Trading fees0.050% taker · 0.010% makerSeven tiers on 30-day trailing volume across all markets: 5.0/1.0 bps below $1M, 4.5/1.0 above $1M, 4.0/0.5 above $5M, 3.5/0 above $25M, 3.0/0 above $50M, 2.5/-0.7 above $100M and 2.5/-1.1 above $200M, so the largest makers are paid. Staking DYDX adds a further discount on net positive fees; maker rebates are excluded from that discount.0.05% taker · 0.02% makerBackpack documents one tier table covering spot and perpetual futures, sorted by 30-day volume, with tiers recalculated every hour and the effective tier driven by whichever is highest between BP staking, volume and pre-TGE Mad Lad NFT holdings. The base tier is 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on futures, higher tiers are cheaper according to the published table, which the support site now gives as text; the USDT/USDC pair is charged 0% and does not count toward tiers.
New-user perkReferred users start at fee tier 3 instead of tier 1, worth up to $550 of fee savingsFee rebates on referred accounts
Max leverageup to 50×Edgeup to 75×
Perp markets78Edge103
Identity check (KYC)EdgeNo KYCKYC required
CustodyNon-custodial, wallet signatureCustodial: your balances sit on the exchange, wallet is a separate product
Settles ondYdX Chain (Cosmos app-chain)Backpack Exchange (centralised matching)
CollateralUSDCUSDC, USDT
Where it runsWebWeb, iOS, Android
ChainsEVM · NobleEthereum, NobleEdgeSolana · EVM · Bitcoin · SuiSolana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Avalanche, Bitcoin, Sui
Documented features7 of 10Edge8 of 10
Order bookYesYes
Cross marginYesYes
Spot tradingYesYes
Vaults / copy vaultsYesYes
Copy tradingNot documentedNot documented
Stocks, gold or forexNoYes
Points programNoYes
APIYesYes
Mobile appYesYes
Telegram botYesNot documented

Which one should you pick?

Pick dYdX if

You publish content about perps: the 30% to 50% taker-fee share with instant USDC payouts is the best economics here.

The most generous affiliate programme of the series, and the clearest case of a venue that lost the volume war: 78 active markets and $1.04B of 30-day volume, against $204B for Hyperliquid. The order book, the fee ladder and the payout mechanics are fully documented.

Read the dYdX review

Sign up through this link: Referred users start at fee tier 3 instead of tier 1, worth up to $550 of fee savings.

Affiliate link

Pick Backpack Exchange if

You want a CEX-style experience with unified portfolio margin, stocks next to perps, and a referral that pays in cash.

One of the two centralised venues of the series, with Bybit, so you give up custody: accounts are KYC-verified, balances sit on the exchange and the 10% referral rebate is paid on trading fees rather than points. Backpack also lists US stocks and ETFs next to 103 perpetual markets.

Read the Backpack Exchange review

backpack.exchange

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