Lighter vs dYdX
Same lines, side by side: fees, leverage, markets, KYC, custody and referral perks, from official pages and DefiLlama.
See the 10 differences
| Line | Lighter | dYdX |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day volume | Edge#03 · $52,570.0M | #12 · $1,037.0M |
| Trading fees | Edge0% maker · 0% takerStandard accounts, the default, pay no maker or taker fee on regular perp and spot orders, at the cost of slower matching (300ms taker latency), but 1 bp (0.01%) on TWAP/advanced orders and RFQ. Premium/Advanced accounts are opt-in and get faster matching: 0.0040% maker and 0.0280% taker with no LIT staked, reduced by staking LIT. | 0.050% 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 perk | A 10% discount on the fees you pay, rebated every Monday | Referred users start at fee tier 3 instead of tier 1, worth up to $550 of fee savings |
| Max leverage | up to 50× | up to 50× |
| Perp markets | Edge210 | 78 |
| Identity check (KYC) | No KYC | No KYC |
| Custody | Non-custodial: Ethereum contracts hold the state root, escape hatch available | Non-custodial, wallet signature |
| Settles on | Lighter Core (ZK rollup anchored on Ethereum) | dYdX Chain (Cosmos app-chain) |
| Collateral | USDC | USDC |
| Where it runs | Web | Web |
| Chains | EVMEthereum | EdgeEVM · NobleEthereum, Noble |
| Documented features | Edge8 of 10 | 7 of 10 |
| Order book | Yes | Yes |
| Cross margin | Yes | Yes |
| Spot trading | Yes | Yes |
| Vaults / copy vaults | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | Not documented | Not documented |
| Stocks, gold or forex | Yes | No |
| Points program | Yes | No |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Telegram bot | No | Yes |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Lighter if
Fees are your main cost and you accept slightly slower fills to keep them at zero.
Regular orders are free by default on Lighter, and the venue anchors its state root on Ethereum with a documented escape hatch. The catch is that free matching is slower, and the paid Premium tier exists above it.
Read the Lighter reviewSign up through this link: A 10% discount on the fees you pay, rebated every Monday.
Affiliate link
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 reviewSign up through this link: Referred users start at fee tier 3 instead of tier 1, worth up to $550 of fee savings.
Affiliate link
