Variational vs GMX
Same lines, side by side: fees, leverage, markets, KYC, custody and referral perks, from official pages and DefiLlama.
| Line | Variational | GMX |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day volume | #P04 · $50,872.0MEdge | #P07 · $22,518.0M |
| Trading fees | 0% trading feesOmni charges no trading fee: the venue keeps the market-making spread instead. Deposits and withdrawals cost a flat $0.10 in USDC, and a forced liquidation is executed 0.5% away from the bid or ask.Edge | 0.04% 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. |
| New-user perk | 1 point for every 10 points earned | 5% or 10% off opening and closing fees depending on the tier of the code you use |
| Max leverage | Not documented | up to 100×Edge |
| Perp markets | 500Edge | 132 |
| Identity check | No KYC | No KYC |
| Custody | Non-custodial, EVM wallet, gasless deposits | Non-custodial, wallet only |
| Settles on | Arbitrum (Variational settlement pools) | Arbitrum (GMX V2 contracts) |
| Collateral | USDC | USDC, USDT, WETH |
| Where it runs | Web | Web |
| Chains | EVMArbitrum | EVMArbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH, Ethereum, Base, BNB ChainEdge |
| Documented features | 4 of 10 | 4 of 10 |
| Order book | No | No |
| Cross margin | Yes | Not documented |
| Spot trading | No | Yes |
| Vaults / copy vaults | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | Not documented | Not documented |
| Stocks, gold or forex | Yes | Yes |
| Points program | Yes | No |
| API | Not documented | Yes |
| Mobile app | Not documented | Not documented |
| Telegram bot | No | Not documented |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Variational if
You want one cross-margined account for crypto, equities, commodities and forex with no visible trading fee.
A zero-fee venue built on RFQ rather than an order book: the platform earns the spread it quotes, so your real cost is the price you accept, not a line on a fee schedule.
omni.variational.io
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
