dYdX vs Lighter
dYdX has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 7.0 against 6.2, and Privacy 7.7 against 7.5.
dYdX
Decentralised perpetuals order book on its own chain, traded from a self-custody wallet
Privacy
7.7/ 10
Strong
Safety
7.0/ 10
Strong
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Docs reviewed Full review →
Lighter
Zero-fee perpetuals and spot order book on an Ethereum layer 2, used with your own wallet
Privacy
7.5/ 10
Strong
Safety
6.2/ 10
Fair
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| dYdX | Lighter | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | No-KYC Exchanges | No-KYC Exchanges |
| KYC policy | No ID mentioned | No ID mentioned |
| Custody | Non Custodial | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | No account needed | No account needed |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL, DYDX | USDC, ETH, BTC, LIT |
| Pay with | Crypto | Crypto |
| Fees | Not published | Standard accounts: 0% maker and taker on regular orders, 0.01% on TWAP/advanced orders and RFQ; Premium/Advanced from 0.004% maker / 0.028% taker |
| Jurisdiction | Cayman Islands (governing law) | Not published |
| Not available in | Perpetuals: United States, Canada (front-end terms), plus the United Kingdom (protocol software terms); all services: sanctioned territories such as Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Donetsk and Luhansk | United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Syria |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only dYdX
Open source
Both
No registrationNo email neededNo phone neededNon-custodialExcludes US users
Only Lighter
Nothing distinct
Where they sit among no-kyc exchanges
Questions
Is dYdX or Lighter safer?
dYdX has the higher Safety grade: dYdX 7.0, Lighter 6.2, out of 10.
Does dYdX or Lighter require KYC?
dYdX is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned). Lighter is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned).
Which has more incidents on record?
dYdX has 0 and Lighter has 0 documented incidents in the registry.