What is dYdX?
dYdX is a cryptocurrency exchange that provides various options for perpetual trading that cover more than 35 popular cryptocurrencies, such as Ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE). It is a decentralized exchange and is among the leading platforms in terms of market share and trading volume.
It is also a non-custodial exchange, which implies that users’ funds are either stored within their own wallets or within a smart contract, which are programs running on the second-largest blockchain in the world, i.e., Ethereum.
The exchange was founded by Antonio Juliano, who is an entrepreneur based in California. It launched all the way back in July 2017 and initially provided users with cryptocurrency margin trading, borrowing, and lending services over Layer 1 Ethereum.
Fast-forward to mid-2021, when the dYdX exchange began offering cross-margin perpetual trading. In cross-margin trading, traders may repurpose whatever balance they have on a platform to offer up liquidity for current trades, which is a fairly popular way of avoiding liquidations during periods of high volatility.
The protocol was built on top of STARK (zero-knowledge) rollups that are powered by Starkware and Ethereum smart contracts. Furthermore, the platform began its journey within the crypto-sphere by providing spot trading, and it has since relaunched around three iterations of the services it offers as a means of decentralizing its components.
Speaking of decentralization, in its efforts to properly decentralize itself, most of dYdX has been built over trustless protocols that are publicly extensible and do not require any permission. So, if you are interested in joining this platform, then look no further. This article will take you through its onboarding procedure step by step.
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How to Register on dYdX
Your Ethereum wallet, or any other wallet, for that matter, owns your account at dYdX. For perpetual, however, due to them being on Layer 2, you may therefore need to register for a perpetual account on Layer 2 by using your wallet through the dYdX website. Also, signing up on dYdX is a one-time procedure.
Bearing all this in mind, the registration process on this exchange is not something you will find implemented that often on other cryptocurrency exchanges.
Step 1. Visit Website
Start the onboarding process by heading over to its official website and clicking the Trade button, which you will find in the upper right corner of its webpage. This will direct you to another portfolio tab within your browser.
Step 2. Click “Connect Wallet”
On the portfolio tab, click the Connect Wallet button at the top to Get Started. So, once you have clicked that button, you will be prompted to identify your wallet type, i.e., the one you’d want to connect to this platform, or just choose the specific wallet that has the funds you want to use.
However, you will need to make sure that the wallet you have chosen has USDC collateral and a few ETH to cover that initial deposit gas fee.
Step 3. Complete Onboarding Flow
If you are a first-time user, then you will have to get done with the onboarding flow to begin your trading journey here. The first step would be to verify that you are indeed the owner of the wallet you linked earlier. So, click the Send Requests button.
Following that, dYdX will share two signature requests that are identical. Here, signing will be free, and your wallet will then send you a notification asking you to sign that message that dYdX sent. So, click the Sign button within that notification. Once you have done that, Sign again to Enable Trading.
Step 4. Set Preferences
Once you’re done with the process of linking your wallet, you will find yourself back on the portfolio page. So, by going to the preferences tab, you can add a username and set some preferences for yourself. If you select Email Notifications, then you can choose what notifications you want to receive once you have entered your email address and verified it. However, the things outlined here are optional, so that you can do without them. And that’s it. You can now begin trading on this platform.
FAQs
How to Create an Account on dYdX
As stated previously, your wallet will own your dYdX account. Therefore, opening an account here is not the standard registration process that you will find at other cryptocurrency exchanges. Still, to start trading here, just head over to its official website and make sure that it’s official to avoid any potential scams or phishing attempts. Click the Trade button at the top, which will direct you to the portfolio tab, where you can click the Connect Wallet option to link your wallet.We would recommend using the MetaMask wallet. Here, you will be directed to choose the kind of wallet you want to use, and you will then have to complete the onboarding flow, which involves, essentially, verifying the ownership of the wallet you want to connect.Once you’re done with all that, your registration process will be completed, and you can now start trading on this exchange.
Is dYdX available in the United States?
Unfortunately, it seems like the dYdX exchange is not available for users based in the United States, which you can check for yourself by going through its Terms of Service.
Does dYdX Force KYC?
KYC isn’t available to begin with, so no, there is no KYC process here.Interestingly, though, the exchange did introduce a KYC process late last year, requiring its users to use webcams to scan their faces. However, it was terminated within a span of just a few hours. Although dYdX did note that participation would be optional, it was more than enough to spark an outrage within the cryptocurrency community, with some stating that the exchange had “nuked itself” because of the initiative.
