Pacifica vs dYdX
Same lines, side by side: fees, leverage, markets, KYC, custody and referral perks, from official pages and DefiLlama.
See the 9 differences
| Line | Pacifica | dYdX |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day volume | Edge#08 · $10,418.0M | #12 · $1,037.0M |
| Trading fees | Edge0.040% taker · 0.015% makerFees come from your rolling 30-day volume: 0.040% taker and 0.015% maker up to $5M, then 0.038%/0.012% above $5M and 0.036%/0.009% above $10M. From $100M of volume the maker fee is 0% and the taker fee bottoms out at 0.028%. Sub-account volume counts toward the master account and fees are settled on each fill. | 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 | 5% bonus on the points you earn | 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 | 78 | 78 |
| Identity check (KYC) | No KYC | No KYC |
| Custody | Non-custodial, Solana wallet | Non-custodial, wallet signature |
| Settles on | Solana | dYdX Chain (Cosmos app-chain) |
| Collateral | USDC | USDC |
| Where it runs | Web | Web |
| Chains | SolanaSolana | 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 | Not documented | Yes |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Pacifica if
You trade on Solana and want published taker and maker fees without a points-first story.
The most readable fee ladder of the series, on a Solana book with unified spot and collateral margin. Keep in mind that $10.4B of 30-day volume is real but modest next to the top three venues, and that the points program is the main growth engine.
Read the Pacifica reviewapp.pacifica.fi
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
