dYdX’s $20M Surge Program: The DeFi Trading Incentive You Can’t Ignore

DeFi just got a turbo boost—dYdX is throwing $20 million at traders who dare to surge.

The Payday Play

No complex veTokenomics here—just cold hard cash for volume. The decentralized exchange's latest incentive program targets market makers and takers alike, with payouts scaling like a leveraged long on a bull run.

Traders vs. The Spread

Liquidity mining meets order book dynamics as participants battle for slice of the eight-figure pie. Watch spreads tighten faster than a whale's stop-loss during a flash crash.

The Fine Print

Rewards follow the oldest rule in finance: 'You don't get rich by watching.' Active traders will pocket the lion's share—passive HODLers need not apply.

One cynical footnote: At least this 'yield' doesn't involve pretend-farming imaginary tokens... probably.

What is the dYdX Surge Program?

The dYdX Surge Program is a massive trading competition with a $20 million prize pool, launched by dYdX in collaboration with Chaos Labs in April 2025. This is a long-term campaign running over 9 months and structured as a seasonal competition — with each season lasting one month.

Each season, traders earn points for using the dYdX exchange, with a primary focus on perpetual futures trading (every trade counts). A key detail is that rewards are not based on PnL or ROI, but rather on taker trading volume and fees paid — making the program accessible to a wider audience, not just experienced traders.

For example, the first two seasons are already complete.

Reward Mechanics: How the $20M Is Distributed

The overall prize pool of dYdX Surge is up to $20 million in DYDX, the native token of the dYdX ecosystem, which is used to reward traders and plays a key role in staking, security, and governance on the dYdX Chain.

As mentioned above, the entire event is divided into 9 monthly seasons, during which dYdX users earn points and compete on a transparent, real-time leaderboard managed by Chaos Labs. At the end of each season, up to $2.2 million in rewards is distributed among participants.

While reward allocation may slightly vary from season to season to improve the overall balance and fairness of the program, the Core logic remains consistent. Below is the current reward allocation along with the point-earning criteria for the ongoing third season.

Points are distributed based on trading fees paid by users as takers (executing market orders). Additionally, there areThe boosted tokens may change each season; for the current season, they are: 

• AIXBT
• KAITO 
• SUI
• XRP

every trading day adds +1.67% of the base General reward (to be eligible, at least $1 in fees must be paid that day).

Points in this allocation are awarded for taker activity on dYdX (market orders) executed via the official dYdX web or mobile interfaces. Unlike the General allocation, points here are earned based on trading volume, not on fees paid.

Participants can earnduring the Surge season compared to the previous season.

stDYDX is a token you receive when you stake your DYDX tokens to a dYdX Chain validator from the same wallet you use for trading. The key requirement is that your current stDYDX balance must be higher than it was in the previous season.

Key Details of the Surge Program 

• Leaderboard link: https://community.chaoslabs.xyz/dydx-v4/risk/leaderboard
• Track your points: https://dydx.trade/DYDX
• Prize pool: $20 million in DYDX
• Seasons: 9 total, each month is one season
• Dates: April 2025 – December 2025
• Rewards payment: Monthly
• Points distribution: Based on trading fees, trading volume, and staking
• Boosted markets: Special tokens with double points rates each season

The Role of the Surge Program in the dYdX Ecosystem

dYdX Surge is one of the most major  and longest-running incentive campaigns in decentralized trading. Unlike many programs, it does not take PnL or ROI into account when calculating points, making it more accessible to all types of traders. Surge also stands out with its flexible and community-governed reward structure, focusing on actual platform usage, rewarding active users, and supporting sustainable growth.

Another key advantage is full decentralization — there’s no need to register, complete KYC, or manually claim rewards. Traders simply use a non-custodial wallet to participate. Rewards are distributed automatically at the end of each season. The system is fully transparent, with a publicly updated leaderboard maintained by Chaos Labs.

How to Participate in the dYdX Surge Program

About dYdX

dYdX is a leading decentralized trading platform for perpetual futures, supporting over 200 trading pairs with some of the deepest liquidity, fast and seamless order execution, and industry-leading low fees.

Since launching in 2018, dYdX  has become one of the most widely used platforms in decentralized perpetual trading, with a total trading volume exceeding $1.5 trillion to date. dYdX was also the first exchange to build perpetual futures trading on a decentralized exchange (DEX).

The platform features an intuitive and powerful trading interface with everything traders need — including advanced order types, multiple margin modes, risk management tools, charting and analysis tools, and leverage up to 50x.

Conclusion

The dYdX Surge Program shows how decentralized finance can offer inclusive and transparent incentives for traders, without relying on just one metric like profit or trading volume. Since everything happens in a decentralized way, dYdX Surge has a community-driven and flexible reward structure that can be adjusted through on-chain voting. The program is accessible to both beginners and experienced users, aiming for long-term engagement and steady growth of the entire dYdX ecosystem.

dYdX Website | Download dYdX App | X | Discord | Blog