⚠︎ Risk warning: leveraged derivatives on unregulated platforms — you can lose everything you deposit. Not investment advice.

Comparison · By Stephan Kulik · Updated 2026-09-29

Hyperliquid vs dYdX (2026): Fees, Custody, Which to Pick

Hyperliquid and dYdX are both fully on-chain, order-book perpetual futures exchanges — a different model from AMM-style perp DEXs that price trades against a liquidity pool. Both are self-custodial: funds sit in a wallet you control, not a company-held balance. Where they diverge is the chain each one runs, how the fee schedule is structured, and how long each has been operating. This page compares the two on specifics that change what a trade actually costs, not marketing claims.

For how both stack up against Aster, GMX, and other perp DEXs, see our full best perp DEX rankings.

Funding, side by side

Fees are charged per fill. Funding is charged every hour a position stays open, so over any real holding period it is the larger number — and it is the one comparison tables usually reduce to a single cell. Both venues settle funding hourly and publish their own history; these are those two histories over the same seven days, on a shared axis so the bar heights mean the same thing in both.

At a glance

✓ rates verified 2026-09-29 · each venue's official docs

Fees

Hyperliquid's base rate — what a fresh account with no volume history and no HYPE staked pays — is 0.045% taker / 0.015% maker on perps. Volume tiers bring the taker rate down to 0.024% at the top tier, and staking HYPE adds a further 5% to 40% discount depending on how much is staked. A referral link applies an additional 4% discount on the first $25M of trading volume. Full tier-by-tier detail is on our Hyperliquid fees breakdown.

dYdX's tier 1 rate — under $1M in trailing 30-day volume — is 0.01% maker / 0.05% taker. Six higher volume tiers above that progressively reduce the taker rate to 0.025%, and at the top tiers the maker side stops being a fee and becomes a rebate: as low as −0.011%, meaning dYdX pays the maker rather than charging them. Worth noting: dYdX's fee schedule, tiers included, is set by on-chain governance vote and can change — check dYdX's current schedule directly before relying on these figures.

Neither platform is unconditionally cheaper. At the base tier, dYdX's maker fee (0.01%) undercuts Hyperliquid's (0.015%), while Hyperliquid's base taker fee (0.045%) is marginally cheaper than dYdX's (0.05%). At scale both pay makers, on different triggers: dYdX's rebate reaches −0.011% at its top volume tier, while Hyperliquid pays −0.001%, −0.002% or −0.003% at the docs' 14-day weighted maker volume thresholds of above 0.5%, 1.5% and 3.0%.

Architecture and custody

Hyperliquid runs its own layer-1 blockchain built specifically around a fully on-chain central limit order book: every order, cancellation, and fill is processed on-chain, and there's no separate gas fee layered on top of the trading fee. dYdX runs its own Cosmos-SDK-based application chain, also using an on-chain order-book model rather than an AMM-style pool. Both keep funds in a self-custodial wallet rather than a company-held balance, and neither is meant for US-based traders — Hyperliquid blocks US access outright, and dYdX access is restricted for US persons as well.

Neither platform gates trading behind identity verification — Hyperliquid onboards via wallet or email login, and dYdX via EVM, Solana, or Cosmos wallets or a social/email login, with no identity check in either verified onboarding flow. Both enforce their geographic restrictions by other means (dYdX checks IP on every page load, per its help center); see each venue's terms for its current jurisdiction list — dYdX officially names the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom among its restricted regions.

Where dYdX wins

• Cheaper maker fee at the base tier: 0.01% versus Hyperliquid's 0.015%, before either platform's volume discounts apply.
• Documented maker rebates at scale: dYdX publishes a concrete top-tier maker rate of −0.011% — an actual rebate, not just a discount to zero.
• History since 2020: dYdX launched its first perpetual market, BTC-USD, in April 2020 per its own 2020 review, and has moved through several protocol versions since.

Where Hyperliquid wins

• Marginally cheaper base taker fee: 0.045% versus dYdX's 0.05% at each platform's entry tier.
• Broader product surface: spot markets, vaults, and the HyperEVM sit on the same chain and account. dYdX has a Spot tab too, but it trades Solana tokens from a separate Spot balance — see our dYdX trading-interface tour.

Which to pick

If a lower base taker fee or trading spot and using vaults on the same platform matter most, Hyperliquid's broader product surface fits that use case. If most of your order flow is maker-side, you expect to trade at a size where dYdX's tiered rebates apply, or you weight dYdX's history since 2020 and a governance-set (rather than unilaterally set) fee schedule heavily, dYdX is the better fit for that profile. Neither is a fit for anyone trading from a jurisdiction where the platform restricts access — verify current access rules directly, and read our risk disclosure before sizing any leveraged position on either.

Related comparisons

Venue reviews: Hyperliquid review · dYdX review

• Hyperliquid vs GMX
• Hyperliquid vs Lighter
• Hyperliquid vs Pacifica
• Hyperliquid vs Extended

FAQ

Which has lower fees, Hyperliquid or dYdX?

It depends on the order type and size. dYdX's base maker fee is cheaper (0.01% vs. 0.015%) and it publishes a concrete rebate at its top volume tiers. Hyperliquid's base taker fee is marginally cheaper (0.045% vs. 0.05%). Neither platform is cheaper across the board.

Can I trade on Hyperliquid or dYdX from the United States?

No, on both. Hyperliquid blocks US access under its terms, and dYdX access is restricted for US persons as well.

Do Hyperliquid or dYdX require KYC?

Neither does, and both are now verified against their own docs: Hyperliquid onboards via wallet or email login, dYdX via wallet (EVM, Solana, or Cosmos) or social/email login — no identity-verification step in either flow. Both enforce geographic restrictions separately from KYC; see our dYdX hub for the officially named restricted jurisdictions.