Tutorial: How to use dYdX

What is dYdX?

dYdX is a perpetual futures (perps) exchange. It allows traders to take long (buy) or short (sell) positions on any of the 37 assets listed, with up to 20X leverage. (This means you can put down $1 and get exposure to $20 of the asset).

dYdX uses an orderbook market-making model. This means large institutions and individuals act as counterparties for each trade. Thanks to this, dYdX solved the age-old problem of high slippage (more expensive trades). The platform’s very competitive fees structure (cheapest in DeFi) and extensive range of listed assets solidified dYdX’s place as the DeFi perps champion.

The V4 upgrade is coming soon and will see dYdX move to its own, app-specific blockchain, built on Cosmos. This will unlock the potential for revenue sharing with token holders and allow $DYDX to be used to pay gas fees. The value accrual of the token will grow exponentially.

For more information on dYdX, check out this Simply Explained. For a detailed look at the protocol, see our Deep Dive here.

Risks

Today, we’re going to show you how to use dYdX. Before that, make sure you understand the risks. With high leverage, comes high risk. If you are 20X leveraged, a 4% move against you would completely wipe out your position. Only use money you can afford to lose!

To find out more about perps, and how they work, check out this article.

How to Use dYdX

The video below shows a step-by-step guide on how to use dYdX, assuming you already have a MetaMask wallet set up. To find out how to do so, click here.

To trade on dYdX, simply follow the instructions below:

1) Fund your Metamask wallet with USDC (to deposit into dYdX) and ETH (for gas fees).

2) Go to https://trade.dydx.exchange/.

3) Follow the steps in this video.

Disclaimer: Not financial or investment advice. You are responsible for any capital-related decisions you make, and only you are accountable for the results.