dYdX Rebrands as Expo, Teams Up with Robinhood: Will This Partnership Succeed?

On July 1st, the DEX Arcus, jointly developed by dYdX Labs and Robinhood Crypto, officially launched its Beta version. This platform is deployed on the Robinhood Chain, supporting spot trading of 95 tokenized stocks and planning to introduce cross-asset perpetual contracts. Arcus is not a product iteration of the dYdX Chain but a new product line for the dYdX team. Meanwhile, Robinhood's L2 Robinhood Chain, built on the Arbitrum technology stack, has officially launched on the mainnet.

Prior to the announcement, the DYDX token briefly surged from $0.15 to $0.24. However, following the announcement, it has dropped to $0.13 this morning, erasing all gains. Its current market cap is $115 million, with a FDV of $136 million.

Future Plans Include Tokenized Stock Staking and Pre-IPO Participation

According to the dYdX website, Arcus is strategically led by dYdX founder Antonio Juliano as a board member and Eddie Zhang as the CEO and co-founder. Eddie Zhang, the former Pocket Protector co-founder and CEO, serves as the CEO of dYdX.

Arcus' core features include a 24/7 trading environment without market time limitations, combined with self-custody, institutional-grade liquidity, and high-performance execution. The platform has currently launched features such as:

· Perpetual Contracts: Already in the testnet phase, targeting whales, market makers, and professional traders. Public testing will follow.

· Spot Trading: The 95 Stock Tokens market is open without needing to wait for listings. It covers 80+ US and international large-cap/mid-cap stocks, indices (such as SPY, QQQ), commodities (from precious metals to energy markets), and crypto assets (BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.). Web-based spot trading has a 0% fee structure and is commission-free.

· Liquidity and Execution: Deep liquidity is provided by institutional market makers, supporting API trading (order management, account data, market data).

· Deposits and Access: Support instant deposits via fiat or cryptocurrency, with future support for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. iOS App coming soon. The platform emphasizes no KYC, no limits, but explicitly not available to users in the US, Canada, the UK, and restricted jurisdictions.

Upcoming or Beta-phase features:

· Pre-IPO Access Channel: Secure early access to investment opportunities in popular pre-listed companies like OpenAI before their public listing.

· Tokenized Stocks as Collateral: In the future, users will be able to use their tokenized stock holdings as collateral for perpetual trading, enabling cross-asset trades (e.g., longing Apple while shorting oil).

Starting Anew After Marginalization?

Since its launch in 2018, dYdX has been a pioneer of the Perp DEX, with a total trading volume surpassing $1 trillion. However, with the v4 version striving for full decentralization, compromises were made in performance and user experience. Coupled with criticisms of the tokenomics, dYdX quickly found itself marginalized.

Arcus, leveraging the Robinhood Chain's nearly 28 million customers (spanning 38 countries and three continents), provides a retail-level traffic gateway for Arcus. Robinhood Wallet users can access Stock Tokens in 120+ countries/regions and engage in spot trading via DEXs like Arcus. Furthermore, the app explicitly prioritizes dYdX traders, stakers, validators, and participants to enter the Arcus ecosystem.

Arcus is designed as a community-owned protocol, combining dYdX's DeFi innovation experience with Robinhood's expertise in financial product development.

In simple terms, the dYdX team has not abandoned its original chain but is seeking breakthroughs in the RWA track and the 24/7 global trading scene through the new project. Traditional financial markets are limited by opening hours and regions, while Arcus, by bringing assets like stocks, indices, and commodities onto the blockchain, allows for round-the-clock trading, productivity enhancements (lending, collateral), and DeFi integration.

The launch of Arcus does not impact the independent operation of the dYdX Chain. dYdX v4 remains a community-owned, fully open-source protocol, with user funds and positions entirely accessible on the dYdX Chain.

The dYdX Foundation has confirmed continued support for the chain. Arcus is more like a "side product" incubated by dYdX Labs, primarily driven by the original core team, but focused on the trading platform itself rather than full ecosystem governance.

Currently, the Arcus website and official channels have not announced any specific token plans or schedule. However, drawing from dYdX's historically significant airdrop case, market participants are generally anticipating a potential new Arcus token or airdrop.

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