DeFi exchange dYdX raises $65M in Series C fundraiser

Published at: June 15, 2021

Venture firms from across the blockchain industry have thrown their weight behind decentralized exchange developer dYdX, offering further evidence that investors are eyeing a further expansion of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

The Series C round generated $65 million in direct funding for dYdX, with venture fund Paradigm leading the raise. HaskKey, Electric Capital, Delphi Digital and others also participated in the raise.

The exchange also received direct support from eight liquidity providers, including Kronos Research, MGNR, Menai Financial Group, QCP Capital, CMS Holdings, CMT Digital, Sixtant and Finlink Capital.

Past investors include Polychain Capital, Three Arrows Capital and Wintermute, among others.

Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy described dYdX as a pioneer in layer-two DEX solutions, adding:

“It offers decentralization and non-custodial trading of perpetual futures without any of the drawbacks that similar solutions built on layer-1 Ethereum face.”

The growth of dYdX reflects the broad expansion of decentralized finance during the 2020–2021 bull market. Over the past five months, the company has generated over $2.2 billion in trade volumes from over 11,000 unique traders. Its total value locked reached $40 million across more than 13,000 unique addresses.

Related: Sights set on mainstream adoption: Is another DeFi summer on the way?

The DeFi market has experienced a broad cooldown in recent months due to the ongoing selling pressure faced by Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Industry data shows that the DeFi market peaked in mid-May before undergoing a broad correction. The total value locked in the ecosystem is now $127.2 billion, which is around 20% below last month’s peak.

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