Recent data from CoinMarketCap reveals that decentralised exchange dYdX, having recently migrated from Ethereum to Cosmos, has outperformed Uniswap to become the leading decentralised exchange (DEX) in terms of daily trading volume. The latest v4 version of dYdX, based on Cosmos, exhibited a 24-hour trading volume of $757 million, surpassing Uniswap v3, which recorded $608 million during the same period. Notably, dYdX’s v3 market, still in operation, secured the third position with a trading volume of $567 million.
Since its v4 market launch, dYdX reports a total trade volume of $17.8 billion. In 2023, its v3 achieved a remarkable total trading volume exceeding $1 trillion, with several days witnessing over $2 billion in trading volume. Despite initial concerns regarding dYdX’s transition from Ethereum to Cosmos, where the latter is considered a less utilised ecosystem, the exchange’s current high trading volumes, surpassing even Uniswap and other Ethereum-based exchanges, seem to validate the strategic move.
dYdX specialises in facilitating the trading of perpetual futures, offering contracts without expiration dates. This allows investors to speculate on the underlying asset’s price without engaging in the physical settlement associated with standard futures trading.
The recent shift to v4 marked a transition to a “fully decentralised” chain, distinguishing it from the previous v3 chain, which the company claimed was not fully decentralised. Although dYdX has announced the eventual closure of v3 on Ethereum, no specific date has been confirmed.
According to Paul Veradittakit of Pantera Capital, decentralised finance (DeFi) users prioritise platforms that provide “high throughput for rapid, continuous trading.” Veradittakit pointed out that high gas fees on Ethereum exacerbate issues, reducing user profits and platform appeal. dYdX’s transition to v4, operating as a standalone blockchain with the Cosmos SDK, directly tackles these challenges by promising enhanced trading throughput, reduced transaction costs, and tailored on-chain logic for sophisticated and high-frequency trading requirements.
dYdX enjoys backing from notable investors such as Patnera, Paradigm, and Delphi Digital. The exchange’s success in surpassing Uniswap underscores its resilience and competitiveness in the evolving decentralised finance landscape.