dYdX (DYDX) is the native governance and staking token of dYdX Chain, a sovereign Proof-of-Stake blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK. The chain uses CometBFT consensus and has run as dYdX v4, hosting a decentralized perpetual futures exchange, since its mainnet launch in October 2023.
DYDX secures the network through staking to its validator set and is not an ERC-20 or SPL token. A legacy Ethereum ERC-20 token from the earlier v1-v3 exchange versions still exists but is no longer the actively used native asset.
dYdX Chain differentiates itself as a purpose-built, sovereign blockchain dedicated solely to perpetual futures trading, rather than a general-purpose smart-contract chain hosting a DEX among many applications.
Protocol revenue is used to buy back DYDX: governance raised the share of revenue allocated to buybacks from 25% to 75%, capped at repurchasing up to 5% of total supply per year, tying trading activity directly to token demand. All dYdX Chain trading fees flow to DYDX stakers, linking exchange usage to staking returns.
DYDX functions as both a governance token and a Proof-of-Stake staking token on dYdX Chain.
DYDX has a maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens, with total supply of approximately 958.34 million and circulating supply of approximately 850 million.
Net emission is currently disinflationary: no new DYDX is minted, and governance-directed buybacks repurchase up to 5% of total supply annually from protocol revenue. From August 2026 (five years after the August 2021 launch), governance may vote to permit inflation of up to 2% per year.
DYDX launched via a dYdX Foundation-run token release on August 3, 2021, with the 1,000,000,000-token supply unlocking over five years rather than through a public ICO or IEO.
This is separate from the founding of dYdX Trading Inc., which Antonio Juliano started in 2017 — the token launched roughly four years after the company was founded. dYdX Trading raised approximately $87 million in company funding, including a $10 million Series A led by a16z crypto and Polychain Capital, and a $65 million Series C led by Paradigm with participation from a16z, Polychain, and other investors.
DYDX is the native asset of dYdX Chain, a standalone Proof-of-Stake blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus. The chain has run as dYdX v4 since its mainnet launch in October 2023.
dYdX Chain is a sovereign, application-specific blockchain rather than a smart-contract platform hosting third-party applications. Its active validator set is limited to the top 60 validators by staked DYDX, and delegators can stake to any of these validators to help secure consensus and earn rewards.
dYdX Trading Inc. was founded in 2017 by Antonio Juliano, who serves as CEO. Juliano previously worked as a software engineer at Coinbase, Uber, and MongoDB, and holds a BSE in Computer Science from Princeton University.
Early team members named in Juliano's own account of the company's history include Brendan (later Chief Architect), Zhuoxun (Head of Operations), and Bryce (staff software engineer); the team grew to approximately 50 people by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Two separate entities are associated with dYdX: dYdX Trading Inc. (also called dYdX Labs), and the dYdX Foundation. dYdX Trading Inc., founded by Antonio Juliano in 2017, built the dYdX exchange product; the dYdX Foundation is an independent Swiss non-profit created in summer 2021.
The dYdX Foundation released the DYDX token in August 2021 and stewards dYdX Chain's protocol development, governance, staking, and buyback program today. In 2026, dYdX Trading rebranded its exchange product as "Arcus" on Robinhood Chain; the Foundation has stated that dYdX Chain and the DYDX token are structurally unaffected by that launch.
dYdX Chain is governed entirely on-chain by DYDX token holders, who vote to add or remove markets, adjust protocol parameters, and approve upgrades.
dYdX Chain's dYdX Unlimited upgrade added permissionless market listings and MegaVault, an automated USDC liquidity vault funded by vault P&L, funding-rate payments, and a 50% share of trading-fee revenue.
dYdX Chain (v4) was audited by Informal Systems across three phases, with zero critical issues remaining in the final results. One critical issue was found and resolved, alongside four medium, 17 low, and 19 informational findings.
Earlier v3-era contracts — LiquidityStakingV1, StarkProxyV1, SafetyModuleV1, and MerkleDistributorV1 — were audited by PeckShield with no significant issues; the underlying governance contracts were forked from Aave's, previously audited by CertiK, Certora, and PeckShield. As a structural risk, about 14.9% of total supply (roughly 149 million DYDX) is staked across the top-60 validator set, and a bloc holding one-third of stake could halt the chain.