One of the world’s largest decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges is making a bold move into the United States market. dYdX, which has processed over $1.5 trillion in trading volume since launching, announced plans to enter the US by the end of 2025 with significantly reduced fees and expanded trading options.
Eddie Zhang, president of dYdX, confirmed the expansion in a interview, emphasizing that establishing a US presence is crucial for the platform’s future direction. The San Francisco-based company currently serves users worldwide except in the United States due to previous regulatory restrictions.
What Makes dYdX Different
Unlike popular exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken that act as middlemen between buyers and sellers, dYdX operates as a decentralized platform. This means users can trade directly with each other on a blockchain network without a central authority controlling their funds.
The platform specializes in perpetual contracts, which are derivatives that let traders bet on cryptocurrency prices without actually owning the assets. Unlike traditional futures contracts, perpetual contracts never expire. This makes them popular among active traders who want to maintain positions for extended periods.
dYdX built its reputation on offering these advanced trading tools in a decentralized environment. The platform has processed $8 billion in perpetual contract volume over the past 30 days alone.
Aggressive Pricing Strategy for US Launch
To compete with established US exchanges, dYdX plans to cut trading fees dramatically. The platform will reduce fees by up to 50%, bringing them down to between 50 and 65 basis points across all trading pairs.
This pricing move puts dYdX among the most cost-effective exchanges available to US traders. The company clearly aims to attract users away from centralized competitors by offering both lower fees and the benefits of decentralized trading.
However, there’s a catch for US users. The platform’s signature product—perpetual contracts—won’t be available at launch due to current regulations. Instead, US customers will initially only have access to spot trading for cryptocurrencies like Solana and other digital assets.
Source:@RoundtableSpace
Zhang expressed hope that regulators will eventually provide guidance allowing decentralized platforms to offer perpetual products in the United States. This reflects the company’s long-term strategy of bringing its full suite of trading tools to American users.
Favorable Regulatory Climate Driving Expansion
The timing of dYdX’s announcement isn’t coincidental. The platform’s US entry follows President Donald Trump’s embrace of the cryptocurrency sector, which has created a more welcoming environment for digital asset businesses.
Under the Trump administration, federal regulators dismissed numerous lawsuits against major crypto platforms and shifted toward creating specialized rules for digital assets. This policy change has encouraged companies that previously avoided the US market to reconsider their positions.
In September 2025, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a joint statement indicating they would consider “innovation exemptions” for decentralized finance platforms. These safe harbors would allow peer-to-peer trading of crypto assets, including potentially perpetual contracts in the future.
The agencies held a joint roundtable on September 29, 2025, to discuss regulatory priorities including 24/7 markets, event contracts, and perpetual contracts. This collaborative approach signals a significant shift from the previous regulatory environment that many crypto companies found hostile.
Strategic Acquisition Brings New Leadership
dYdX’s US expansion plans received a boost from its July 2025 acquisition of Pocket Protector, a social trading platform built on Telegram. This marked the company’s first external acquisition and brought valuable talent into leadership roles.
Eddie Zhang joined dYdX as president through this deal. His background includes leading product development for Messenger at Meta and co-founding the social app Fam. Kaiser Kinbote, Pocket Protector’s other co-founder, became head of growth, bringing a decade of experience in crypto product development and community building.
Pocket Protector had gained 50,000 users and reached $1 billion in annualized trading volume in less than a year. The platform’s Telegram-based trading bot allows users to trade together in group chats and follow successful traders in real-time.
The acquisition’s timing suggests dYdX is preparing for a consumer-focused expansion that goes beyond its traditional audience of professional traders. Integrating social features could help the platform attract a broader user base in the competitive US market.
Platform Upgrades and Performance
Throughout 2025, dYdX invested heavily in infrastructure improvements to prepare for growth. The platform resolved critical stability issues that caused downtime during periods of high market volatility. Engineers eliminated throughput constraints affecting the platform’s Indexer system, which tracks trading data.
One major improvement reduced deposit and withdrawal times from 18 minutes to under one minute through integration with Skip Protocol. This makes the platform much more practical for active traders who need quick access to their funds.
The company also rolled out enhanced mobile interfaces aimed at retail investors and added new order types including reduce-only limit orders, scale orders, and time-weighted average price orders. These features give traders more precise control over their positions.
These upgrades helped dYdX process $270 billion in trading volume and generate $46 million in net protocol fees across 150 markets during 2024. The platform’s ongoing Surge rewards program has distributed over $20 million in incentives to active users.
Token Performance and Market Position
The dYdX token (DYDX) has faced significant headwinds despite the positive news about US expansion. The token currently trades around $0.30, down approximately 68% over the past year. This decline removed roughly $1.43 billion from the token’s market capitalization.
Market data shows the token fell about 50% in the past month alone, dropping from $0.60 to $0.30. This performance reflects broader weakness in decentralized finance tokens and increased competition from platforms like Hyperliquid.
The dYdX Community Treasury holds approximately 190 million DYDX tokens, representing 19% of the total supply. These tokens are reserved for future initiatives to support long-term ecosystem growth. Token emissions dropped by 50% in June 2025, with all unlocks set to complete by June 2026.
Despite the token’s poor price performance, the platform continues expanding its product offerings. In November 2024, dYdX launched dYdX Unlimited, featuring instant market listings, a MegaVault liquidity engine, revamped trading rewards, and a lifetime affiliate commission program.
The Road Ahead
dYdX’s planned US market entry represents a significant test for decentralized finance platforms seeking mainstream adoption. The company must balance regulatory compliance with its decentralized ethos while competing against well-established centralized exchanges.
Industry analysts suggest dYdX’s aggressive fee cuts could pressure competitors to reduce their own trading costs. This would benefit US cryptocurrency traders regardless of which platforms they choose.
For now, dYdX’s announcement signals growing confidence in the US regulatory environment and marks another step toward mainstream acceptance of decentralized trading platforms.