jakiro
Recently, I saw tokens claiming that their total transaction volume has exceeded 120B and that 14.9% of the supply has been pledged, and more than 20MUSDC has been allocated to the stakeholders. In short, all data indicators after the dYdX independent chain was launched are pretty good..So, how to evaluate the development history of dYdX from L1 to L2 to independent chains?Can the Ethereum Layer3 application chain narrative pull dYdX back?Next, let me talk about my opinion:
dYdX is a typical application representative for the Trading system. From beginning to end, the goal is to become a perpetual contract decentralized derivatives exchange focused on the order-blank type.Because of this, dYdX has three core pain points in the development process over the past years:
1. It is necessary to have super-technical extension of high performance, because compared with AMM transaction pool type, order thinness has extremely high requirements for Real-Time batch matching and execution on system throughput and latency;
2. We must pursue decentralization as much as possible, because in the L1 and L2 stages, in order to pursue extreme efficiency, dYdX had to adopt the method of off-chain centralized server matching orders, but focused on trading DeFi projects, and centralized transactions such as targets and CEX.In the long run, the market we are competing for must be transparent in key processes through smart contracts and DAO governance, and the deployment of nodes will be scattered to allow community users to participate more in governance decisions.(This is also the main reason why it allocates a large number of transaction fees to verification nodes and pledged users;
3. Manage user retention and growth issues as well as possible.Compared with exchanges such as CEX, the threshold for on-chain decentralized derivative exchanges will be higher, so you must have a better product experience in product design, interactive interface, trading tools and risk control functions; compared with DEXs such as Uniswap, dYdXRelatively speaking, it is a relatively closed trading system. Unlike Uniswap, which can obtain a large amount of liquidity and transaction fee sharing through integration with a large number of project projects, dYdX can only be retained by long-term users, especially professional traders, market makers, etc.Fixed user groups to support product operation.
So, why does dYdX need to be an independent application chain?The answer is that both L1 and L2 cannot meet their ultimate performance pursuits.
Initially, the development of business on Ethereum L1 is constrained by the low performance and high Gas fluctuations of the main chain, dYdX faces the competitive pressure of Uniswap and chooses to migrate to L2; when it comes to StarkEX’s layer2 product form, it seems that L2 low Gas and highThe basis of throughput, but it is still a little short of the high performance pursued by dYdX, so a compromise solution for transaction data link matching was adopted, using Starkware zero-knowledge to prove on-chain and off-chain Finality Proof, and achieved the implementation of doing on L2.A solution for a high-speed trading engine.However, this solution also has to rely on off-chain services, which makes dYdX often criticized for having “centralization problems”;
Immediately afterwards, with the launch of dYdX V4, dYdX built an exclusive high-performance chain based on the Cosmos SDK, with 60 active Validators that maintain consensus mechanisms, including Ledger, Coinbase Cloud, etc., and the continuous launch of user pledge Reward dividends.mechanism.With the support of independent application chains, dYdX has been frequently refreshing various operating data indicators, such as:
1. Currently, there are 149 million DYDX (14.9% of the total) in pledge status;
2. The agreement has distributed more than USD 20 million USD to 18,991 pledgers;
3. Community members have launched 55 governance proposals so far;
Judging from the data, the dYdX independent application chain is gradually realizing its original vision and becoming a super decentralized perpetual exchange.At least, dYdX has determined its ultimate application chain form, and there is no need to tell the story of technical layers such as chain expansion and performance. In the future, it only needs to continue to operate data growth such as users and transaction volume.
Since dYdX already has its own independent kingdom, from a business perspective, as a successful application, dYdX’s today should be the tomorrow that many L1 and L2 application goals may be achieved.
I can’t help but ask, since L1 and L2 are currently overly infra-level, and there is also a narrative expectation of layer3’s super application chain, theoretically speaking, if dYdX is put on the Ethereum layer3 application chain, it should be fine.?
The answer may disappoint most people, not.
1. dYdX focuses on the Trading system business of decentralized derivatives trading. Its positioning was to cultivate independent user groups and data growth models and become an exclusive customized application chain.
Although layer3 can customize Gas Tokens, consensus mechanisms, verification rules, etc., the core interactive operation capabilities of layer3 application chain, and the key asset settlement of layer3 application chain also depends on the Ethereum main network, which will also bring certain restrictions to dYdX.
2. Even Uniswap has not yet reached the mature conditions that can be used to build a layer3 application chain based on Ethereum. The ecological liquidity depth of layer2, and the performance barriers in layer1 settlement (high Gas fees) still limit them to the possibility of building a layer3 application chain.sex.Especially the extremely lack of user and market liquidity on layer2 makes it difficult for the application chain to have a stable user group and transaction depth on layer2.What’s more, dYdX has such high requirements for decentralization, order thin matching performance, transaction experience, etc.
Therefore, dYdX is a separate application chain from the Ethereum ecosystem, which is not only an active escape behavior, but also a helpless choice limited by the underlying performance of Ethereum.(Think of another perspective, although the Ethereum Ecological Volume Infra has become increasingly popular, it is still very necessary.
This actually exposes an outstanding problem of multi-chain narrative of layer3 applications: applications such as dYdX with mature users and markets may not be met in actual customization needs, and some applications that start from the starting point will not have to be short-term in the layer3 environment.The spillover effect of super ecological liquidity to L1 and L2 is aided.
above
In short, dYdX has a unique positioning and development trajectory in the Crypto ecological family. Although it has been considered “successful” to some extent, it can continue to have a market turbulent environment, just like agreement companies like Uniswap and AAVE.Trends toward stable business expansion and growth.
But the success of dYdX is not something that many applications on L1 and L2 can easily be reproduced. In fact, Uniswap has already given the answer. It is difficult to escape if you rely on the Ethereum ecosystem. You can only use L1, L2, and L3After all, most applications will have no survival without the composable liquidity provided by the bottom layer of the public chain.
Note: If you are a coin holder of dYdX and recognize the stable independent chain business development and trends of dYdX, you might as well participate in staking mining: (https://dydx.zone/Haotian) As the transaction volume increases,It is still very good for pledgers to continue to receive stable dividends from USDC.Note: It is only suitable for long-term value investment users who pursue stability.
