GMX vs dYdX

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

LineGMXdYdX
30-day volume#P07 · $22,518.0MEdge#P12 · $1,037.0M
Trading fees0.04% to 0.06% per open or closeThere is no maker/taker split: the position fee is 0.04% when your trade reduces the imbalance between long and short open interest and 0.06% when it increases it, charged on open, close, increase and decrease. TradFi markets have their own rates (GOLD, SILVER and oil trade at 0.01%/0.02% during on-hours). Price impact, hourly borrow fees and swaps are billed on top.Edge0.050% 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.
New-user perk5% or 10% off opening and closing fees depending on the tier of the code you useReferred users start at fee tier 3 instead of tier 1, worth up to $550 of fee savings
Max leverageup to 100×Edgeup to 50×
Perp markets132Edge78
Identity checkNo KYCNo KYC
CustodyNon-custodial, wallet onlyNon-custodial, wallet signature
Settles onArbitrum (GMX V2 contracts)dYdX Chain (Cosmos app-chain)
CollateralUSDC, USDT, WETHUSDC
Where it runsWebWeb
ChainsEVMArbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH, Ethereum, Base, BNB ChainEdgeEVM · NobleEthereum, Noble
Documented features4 of 104 of 10
Order bookNoYes
Cross marginNot documentedYes
Spot tradingYesNot documented
Vaults / copy vaultsYesYes
Copy tradingNot documentedNot documented
Stocks, gold or forexYesNo
Points programNoNo
APIYesYes
Mobile appNot documentedNot documented
Telegram botNot documentedNot documented

Which one should you pick?

Pick GMX if

You want oracle pricing with no spread hunting, on Arbitrum, and you trade the lighter side of the market.

GMX prices trades against pooled liquidity and Chainlink oracles rather than a book, so its cost structure looks like a swap: an open/close fee that varies with the balance of open interest, plus borrow and price impact. It is the cheapest venue in the series for a trader who systematically takes the lighter side.

app.gmx.io

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.

dydx.trade

Other duels with GMX