Lighter vs dYdX
Same lines, side by side: fees, leverage, markets, KYC, custody and referral perks, from official pages and DefiLlama.
| Line | Lighter | dYdX |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day volume | #P03 · $52,570.0MEdge | #P12 · $1,037.0M |
| Trading fees | 0% maker · 0% takerStandard accounts, the default, pay no maker or taker fee on perps or spot, at the cost of slower matching (300ms taker latency). Premium accounts are opt-in and get faster matching: 0.0040% maker and 0.0280% taker with no LIT staked, reduced by staking LIT.Edge | 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 | One week of Premium for free: the fees paid during that week are rebated | 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 | 210Edge | 78 |
| Identity check | 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 | EVM · NobleEthereum, NobleEdge |
| Documented features | 7 of 10Edge | 4 of 10 |
| Order book | Yes | Yes |
| Cross margin | Yes | Yes |
| Spot trading | Yes | Not documented |
| 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 | Not documented | Not documented |
| Telegram bot | No | Not documented |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Lighter if
Fees are your main cost and you accept slightly slower fills to keep them at zero.
Trading is 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.
app.lighter.xyz
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
