Hyperliquid vs dYdX for perpetual futures

The short answer

These two are the closest pair on our comparison pages. Both are order books rather than pools, both run on a chain built for the exchange, both leave your funds in your own account and both ask for no identity documents. The differences are in the fee split, the market list and which countries each one turns away.

Fees

dYdX’s first fee tier charges 0.01% to makers and 0.05% to takers, uniform across markets, with discounts for staking DYDX. Hyperliquid’s tier 0 is 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker, or 0.0432% taker with a referral code.

So the honest split is this: if you rest orders, dYdX is cheaper at the entry tier. If you cross the spread, Hyperliquid is, and the referral code makes it more so. Both venues reach maker rebates at high volume; on Hyperliquid the maker rate falls to zero and then goes negative through the tiers on our fees page.

Neither charges gas on orders. dYdX’s help centre puts it plainly: by default traders do not pay gas fees to trade, only trading fees on filled orders. Funding still dominates on anything held overnight; Hyperliquid settles it hourly and the funding calculator shows what your holding period costs.

Custody and what breaks

Both venues are self-custodial. dYdX’s terms state that its operating entity does not take possession of wallets, keys or funds; Hyperliquid’s balance sits in your own account on its chain. In both cases the risk is your own key management and the bridge you use to move funds, and in neither case is there a desk to call. Our risk page applies to both almost word for word.

Where they differ is in what backs the exchange. Hyperliquid’s liquidations are absorbed by a vault anyone can inspect on-chain, and its spot markets and builder-deployed perpetuals sit on the same chain as the order book. dYdX has a vault product of its own and a longer history under a previous architecture, which counts for something after a violent week.

Access

Neither asks for documents. Hyperliquid excludes residents of the United States and Ontario, Canada, along with sanctioned jurisdictions. dYdX’s v4 terms exclude persons in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom for perpetuals, plus sanctioned regions. A Canadian outside Ontario, or anyone in the UK, has one of the two available and not the other, which is a real deciding factor for those readers. Our country pages cover Hyperliquid’s side.

Where dYdX is genuinely better

• Lower maker fee at the entry tier, if you rest orders.
• Uniform fees across markets, with no per-market surprises.
• A longer record as a perpetuals venue, through more than one architecture.
• A lower, more conservative leverage cap on BTC, if you would rather the venue protected you from yourself.
• DYDX staking discounts, if you already hold the token.

Where Hyperliquid is genuinely better

• Lower taker fee at the entry tier, and lower again with a referral code.
• Far more markets, including spot, equities, commodities and FX through builder-deployed perpetuals.
• Higher leverage ceiling on BTC, which is a caution as much as a feature.
• Deeper books on the major pairs, where most volume sits.
• Hourly funding, and an ecosystem on the same chain.

Who should pick which

Pick dYdX if you are maker-side, you want a venue with a longer history, or you are in a country Hyperliquid excludes and dYdX does not.

Pick Hyperliquid if you cross the spread, you want breadth of markets, you want spot and perpetuals on one account, or depth on the majors decides it for you.

This is one of the few comparisons where the fee question has no single answer: it depends on which side of the book you live on. Check the leverage column with care, and read how maker and taker orders differ if that distinction is new to you.