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The dYdX Foundation hosted its January Analyst Call on January 20, 2026, featuring a guest discussion with global liquidity provider Wintermute, alongside updates on protocol performance, governance developments, and broader market conditions. The session brought together analysts, token holders, and ecosystem participants for a data-driven review of activity across the dYdX ecosystem through the end of 2025 and into early 2026.
Review of 2025 Protocol Performance
During the call, the Foundation reviewed metrics from the recently published 2025 dYdX Annual Ecosystem Report, which detailed activity across the protocol through the end of the year.
dYdX has facilitated approximately $1.6 trillion in cumulative trading volume across all protocol versions, with $64.7 million in cumulative protocol fees generated since the launch of dYdX v4. Trading activity in 2025 followed a clear adjustment-and-recovery pattern: volumes declined from approximately $26.1 billion in Q1 to $16.0 billion in Q2, before rebounding in the second half of the year and reaching $34.3 billion in Q4, the strongest quarter of the year.
December 2025 trading volume totaled approximately $11.5 billion, representing the second-strongest month of Q4 despite a softer industry-wide trading environment into year-end. Protocol fees tracked this recovery, closing 2025 at approximately $16.86 million, reflecting steadier, execution-driven derivatives usage rather than volatility-driven spikes.
Participation and Market Structure Trends
Participation metrics showed a similar trajectory over the course of the year. Weekly active traders declined during the first half of 2025 before strengthening meaningfully through the second half, reaching approximately 12,700 active traders in Q4, the highest level of the year.
This recovery occurred alongside more disciplined leverage across crypto derivatives markets, with open interest moderating in line with broader market conditions. The Foundation noted that this combination of rising participation and restrained leverage reflects a maturing derivatives market characterized by more consistent, repeat trading activity.
“2025 marked an important transition for the dYdX ecosystem,” said Charles d’Haussy, CEO of the dYdX Foundation. “Participation recovered meaningfully in the second half of the year while leverage remained more disciplined. We saw weekly active traders reach roughly 12,700 in Q4, alongside continued growth in staking and governance participation, reflecting a shift toward more sustainable, execution-led trading activity.”
DYDX Token and Governance Updates
The Foundation also provided updates on DYDX token dynamics. As of year-end, approximately 83% of the DYDX token supply is unlocked, with the majority of emissions now complete. The number of DYDX token holders increased by approximately 85% year-over-year, reaching around 98,000 holders.
Staking participation remained robust, with more than 34,000 addresses participating in staking and approximately 237 million DYDX staked to validators, supporting network security and protocol operations.
Governance-led initiatives discussed during the call included ongoing incentive programs and treasury-backed mechanisms designed to support trader participation while maintaining risk discipline. The Foundation also highlighted recent progress in institutional liquidity integrations, including collaboration with FalconX. The integration is designed to support institutional participation on dYdX by enabling professional liquidity provision and routing into select perpetual markets.
Guest Discussion: Wintermute on Derivatives Market Evolution
The guest segment with Wintermute focused on the evolution of crypto derivatives market structure and the growing convergence between on-chain and traditional financial markets. Topics included the role of perpetual futures as the dominant crypto derivatives product, the rise of equity perpetuals, and the implications of continuous, 24/7 market access for execution quality, liquidity provision, and risk management.
The discussion highlighted how institutional participation and market-making activity continue to shape liquidity conditions across on-chain derivatives venues.
Materials from the January Analyst Call, along with the full 2025 dYdX Annual Ecosystem Report, are available through the dYdX Foundation’s public channels.
About the dYdX Foundation
The dYdX Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organization based in Zug, Switzerland. Its mission is to support the current and future implementations of the dYdX protocol and foster community-driven governance and growth across the ecosystem.
Disclaimer
This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, tax, or investment advice, nor should it be used to evaluate any investment or security. All figures and charts are based on the most accurate data available at the time of publication and may be subject to updates. For more information, please refer to https://www.dydx.foundation/terms-of-use.
Press Contact: media@dydx.foundation
About the dYdX Foundation
Legitimacy and Disclaimer
Crypto-assets can be highly volatile and trading crypto-assets involves risk of loss, particularly when using leverage. Investment into crypto-assets may not be regulated and may not be adequate for retail investors. Do your own research and due diligence before engaging in any activity involving crypto-assets.
dYdX is a decentralised, disintermediated and permissionless protocol, and is not available in the U.S. or to U.S. persons as well as in other restricted jurisdictions. The dYdX Foundation does not operate or participate in the operation of any component of the dYdX Chain's infrastructure.
The dYdX Foundation’s purpose is to support the current implementation and any future implementations of the dYdX protocol and to foster community-driven growth in the dYdX ecosystem.
The dYdX Chain software (including dYdX Unlimited) is open-source software to be used or implemented by any party in accordance with the applicable license. At no time should the dYdX Chain and/or its software or related components (including dYdX Unlimited) be deemed to be a product or service provided or made available in any way by the dYdX Foundation. Interactions with the dYdX Chain software (including dYdX Unlimited) or any implementation thereof are permissionless and disintermediated, subject to the terms of the applicable licenses and code. Users who interact with the dYdX Chain software, i ncluding dYdX Unlimited (or any implementations thereof) will not be interacting with the dYdX Foundation in any way whatsoever. The dYdX Foundation does not make any representations, warranties or covenants in connection with the dYdX Chain software (or any implementations and/or components thereof, including dYdX Unlimited), including (without limitation) with regard to their technical properties or performance, as well as their actual or potential usefulness or suitability for any particular purpose, and users agree to rely on the dYdX Chain software (or any implementations and/or components thereof, including dYdX Unlimited) “AS IS, WHERE IS”.
Nothing in this post should be used or considered as legal, financial, tax, or any other advice, nor as an instruction or invitation to act by anyone. Users should conduct their own research and due diligence before making any decisions. The dYdX Foundation may alter or update any information in this post in the future at its sole discretion and assumes no obligation to publicly disclose any such change. This post is solely based on the information available to the dYdX Foundation at the time it was published and should only be read and taken into consideration at the time it was published and on the basis of the circumstances that surrounded it. The dYdX Foundation makes no guarantees of future performance and is under no obligation to undertake any of the activities contemplated herein.
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