Startup profile · funding coverage
dYdX funding, valuation and investors
Decentralized perpetuals exchange on dYdX Chain appchain.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Series C
$65M · June 2021
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
$65M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
growth · San Francisco, California
Overview
dYdX operates a decentralized perpetuals exchange — one of the largest on-chain derivatives venues, now running on its own dYdX Chain appchain. Raised seed and Series A co-led by a16z crypto and Polychain in 2017-2018; $65M Series C in June 2021 led by Paradigm with a16z and Polychain participating. Transitioned from Ethereum L2 to standalone Cosmos-based chain.
Why dYdX is interesting
a16z and Polychain co-led from seed; canonical DeFi derivatives cap table as dYdX migrated to own appchain.
Product & use cases
Decentralized perpetual futures exchange — traders use crypto collateral for leveraged positions on major assets without centralized custody.
- On-chain perpetual futures trading
- DeFi derivatives with self-custody
- Market making and liquidity provision on dYdX Chain
Key facts
- Series C (Jun 2021): $65M led by Paradigm; a16z, Polychain (dYdX blog)
- Migrated to dYdX Chain appchain (Cosmos)
- Among largest decentralized derivatives venues
Funding history (newest first)
Series C
2021-06 $65M- Paradigm (lead)
- Andreessen Horowitz (participant)
- Polychain Capital (participant)
Seed + Series A
2018 Undisclosed- Andreessen Horowitz (lead)
- Polychain Capital (lead)
- Bain Capital Ventures (participant)
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from dYdX's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Early mover in DeFi perps with deep liquidity history — appchain migration targets performance and token economics.
On-chain derivatives compete on liquidity, fees, and chain performance. dYdX's appchain bet separates it from Ethereum L2 competitors but migration risked user churn.
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Hyperliquid direct
Rising on-chain perps competitor with high volume.
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GMX direct
Decentralized perps on Arbitrum/Avalanche.
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Binance Futures incumbent
Centralized derivatives at massive scale.
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Drift direct
Solana-based perpetuals exchange.
Notable stories
- dYdX migrated from StarkEx L2 to its own Cosmos appchain — one of the largest DeFi protocol chain migrations (dYdX blog).
Industries
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover dYdX's financing or category context.
FAQs about dYdX
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
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