DYDX Doubles Down: Aggressive Tactics Reshape DEX Competition in 2025

Decentralized exchanges just got a shot of adrenaline—DYDX is playing for keeps.

The chess move nobody saw coming

While legacy DEXs tweak UI elements, dYdX's latest protocol upgrade slashes gas costs by 40%—a direct attack on Ethereum's lingering scalability tax. The perpetual swaps platform now settles trades faster than Binance's centralized matching engine (ironic, given CZ's retirement villa plans).

Liquidity wars escalate

Their new incentive scheme bribes market makers with 2.5x yield boosts—a naked power grab for order book depth. Competitors scream 'unsustainable' while secretly recalculating their own token emission schedules.

The cynical take

Another day, another DeFi project burning VC money to buy fake volume. But this time? The mercenary capital might actually stick around—if only for the schadenfreude of watching TradFi quant shops fumble with metamask.

Hypeliquid and Aster’s increasing presence in decentralized exchanges (DEX) has spurred DYDX to take proactive steps to reinforce its standing in the market. One significant move finalized today seeks to encourage more on-chain traders to utilize the platform. This initiative is not only pivotal for increasing user numbers but also holds potential positive implications for DYDX’s price dynamics.

DYDX Introduces Zero Fee Initiative

It is essential to clarify that trading fees will not be eliminated entirely. To minimize the impact on protocol revenues, fees for BTC and SOL Coin will be zero on specific days. This initiative follows the community-approved version 9.4 update. Additionally, users are set to receive a 50% discount on positive trading fees until the end of the year.

The release notes indicate that fee-free trading on certain days is meant for the holiday period. Apart from this, there are support measures such as staking-based fee reductions. These reductions depend on the amount of DYDX you stake, dynamically adjusting your discount rate.

Future Prospects of DYDX Coin

While zero fee campaigns and others are beneficial, DYDX’s overall situation is not ideal. No significant market activity supported by this news has been observed. As seen from DeFi Llama data, yesterday’s happenings are evident. Although the token launch saw peaks in market value and open interest, indicating robust protocol usage, subsequent bear markets led to a stark decline by 2023, with DYDX stabilizing at $340 million TVL and approximately $250 million in open positions.

As we reached 2025, the situation worsened. TVL plunged below $310 million, whereas open positions sank under $150 million. Similarly, the market value graph echoes this downward trajectory, now dwindled to $260 million, far from its $1.9 billion peak. Initial limited supply during the launch transitioned to massive unlocks and a continuously declining TVL and OI, culminating in the current graph.

DYDX Coin, reaching new ATL levels, is now targeting to exceed $0.55 after surpassing $0.36. Whether this is possible is yet uncertain, given the low market value, dwindling open interest, and waning user engagement. Absent further declines and upon reaching a final peak, reclaiming $0.55 could lead to surpassing $0.8 and $1.21. Further market appetite might push it between $1.87 and $2.73.