qerranews 
Decentralized exchange (DEX) dYdX is raising the bar in DeFi by launching a massive $20 million trading competition that will run until the end of 2025. Dubbed the dYdX Surge Program, this initiative isn’t just about short-term hype—it’s a calculated move to drive long-term engagement, increase liquidity, and reignite interest among past users.
The Surge Program, developed in collaboration with Chaos Labs and backed by the dYdX community through governance, introduces a gamified, permissionless reward system for active traders. There’s no need to register or claim rewards manually—traders earn points automatically by participating in eligible activities on the platform. These points are tracked on a transparent leaderboard, and rewards are distributed at the end of each monthly “season.”
A New Layer of Incentives
The program is strategically divided into three main categories:
- General (50%): Focuses on rewarding trading volume and fees to enhance capital efficiency.
- Retail (25%): Targets everyday users on the dYdX web and mobile platforms.
- Activation (25%): Encourages engagement with new features, reactivation of dormant wallets, and liquidity provisioning in newly launched markets.
This tiered structure ensures that both new users and returning veterans have reasons to participate, making the rewards system inclusive and dynamic.
Gamification Meets Decentralization
What sets Surge apart is its gamified approach. By integrating a points-based system, dYdX is injecting competition into trading. Traders can climb the leaderboard by engaging in various platform activities such as paying trading fees, staking DYDX tokens, using official dYdX interfaces, and trading in special “boosted” markets announced monthly.
This sense of competition adds excitement while simultaneously driving up platform engagement. And since the dYdX protocol is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), the Surge Program’s parameters—like reward splits and eligibility rules—can evolve based on community proposals.
Reigniting the Old Guard
A noteworthy part of the program is its strategy to reengage historical users. Wallets from dYdX v3 and early v4 get access to additional multipliers, offering returning users a head start in the leaderboard race. This not only helps recover lost liquidity but also builds a foundation of long-term user alignment.
Early Signals Point to Success
Initial metrics following the launch are promising. The number of active addresses on dYdX surged by 25%, and trading volume nearly doubled—an early testament to the program’s ability to spark real interest.
dYdX, which reported over $270 billion in trading volume in 2024, is already a heavyweight in the DeFi space. With over 58,000 DYDX token holders and a rapidly evolving product across web and mobile, the Surge Program further cements its position as a leader focused on transparency, ownership, and user engagement.
As DeFi continues to mature, programs like Surge represent a shift toward sustainable ecosystem design. By aligning user incentives with protocol growth, dYdX is building more than just a trading platform—it’s shaping a resilient, community-first DeFi future.