Brenda Kanana
dYdX, the firm that is developing an on-chain crypto derivatives exchange has let go of 35% of its core team. Chief executive officer Antonio Juliano announced on Tuesday that the decision was essential to align the company’s structure with its evolving needs.
This also comes following the significant changes in the company this year following Juliano’s temporary exit and return to the company’s leadership role earlier this month.
In a blog post, Juliano revealed that the company now “have the team we need going forward, but first we say goodbye to those who have left.” He reiterated that the current company was different from what it should be to succeed in the future.
Juliano also noted that layoffs are necessary to reorganize dYdX and adjust to the new dynamics within the DeFi market. He pointed out that the company’s structure is still in a pre-mass adoption model, which is not ideal for the company’s future direction. This restructuring is necessary for dYdX to be competitive.
Despite the layoffs, dYdX remains optimistic about the future of the company. The firm has also received investment from high profile investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital and Paradigm.
Once a leader in on-chain crypto derivatives, dYdX is now up against stiff competition from Hyperliquid. This fast-growing competitor has also recently positioned itself to take a larger portion of the market. By the end of 2024, the total value locked in dYdX had decreased by 50% to $460 million as of March, while the value locked in Hyperliquid had increased by 250% to nearly $860 million, which was three times that of dYdX.
dYdX expands with Trump election prediction market
Amid these shifts, dYdX has recently released a new feature to attract users and expand the choices available to them. In October, dYdX introduced a prediction market that enabled traders to bet on the likelihood of former American President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. This perpetual trading market, approved through a community governance vote, allows users to trade based on the probability of Trump winning or losing.
By using the Trump Prediction Market Perpetuals, traders can go long if they think that Trump will win the election or short if they think he will lose. Similar to Polymarket’s TRUMPWINYES market, this perpetual market offers a new trading instrument related to political events.
The final settlement will be made after the election, and it will be $1 if Trump is re-elected and $0.00001 if he is not. This launch is consistent with the dYdX vision to enhance decentralized trading possibilities and comes after a series of launches of event-based derivatives in DeFi markets.
