Crypto derivatives are not for the faint of heart, but they can amplify your investments' reach if properly leveraged.
Today, we'll be exploring a more advanced task for our hardened traders, as a way to show some of you the value behind participating in decentralized ecosystems beyond pure speculation.
For this quest, we'll be depositing 500 USDC in the dYdX trading platform. This is the first step to trading on dYdX.
In this article, you’ll learn:
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What is dYdX?
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What does trading on derivatives mean?
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How to deposit USDC into the dYdX trading platform.
What You’ll Need to Complete this Task
In order to complete this task, you’ll need the following:
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An Ethereum wallet, such as MetaMask.
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ETH in your wallet, for gas fees.
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At least 500 USDC to deposit in the trading platform.
It’s important to note that dYdX isn't available to US citizens, so this quest will be exclusively available to our quest rabbits overseas.
We've got a few guides that might be useful on our RabbitHole Learn Hub. If you want to learn more about what DeFi is, and the difference between a CEX and DEX; hop on over there to learn more!
Before we Start
dYdX specializes in an often overlooked area of finance known as Derivatives, or more specifically, perpetuals. What they enable you to do is essentially to hedge your beliefs on where the market might be going in a certain time period. If you believe ETH will go up, you can signal that position and reap the rewards, and the same applies to the opposite.
Derivatives are often Centralized Exchanges' domain, as there's a lot of regulation on who can provide these services to you. By decentralizing this mechanism through their protocol and token, dYdX allows you to take advantage of this advanced finance technique, without worrying about institutional manipulation.
That's exactly why this platform isn't available to US citizens, as their regulation prohibits “unverified parties” from offering this service. By taking the DEX (decentralized exchange) route to derivatives, dYdX puts yet another tool at your disposal if you have the know-how to wield it.
How to Deposit Funds to dYdX
Step 1 – Head over to dYdX
When you're ready to deposit your fund into the exchange, just head over to dydx.exchange and enter the app, make sure your wallet is connected to the Ethereum Network.
Step 2 – Connect your Wallet to the Exchange
When you're in the dashboard, go ahead and connect your wallet. You'll have to verify ownership of your wallet with a signature, as well as enabling trading. Remember, dYdX is not available to US citizens.
Step 3 – Deposit your Funds
After you've connected your wallet, all you need to do is click on the “Deposit” button, approve USDC trading, and deposit your funds.
Keep in mind, whenever you're planning on withdrawing your investment, you'll be able to pick between a “fast withdrawal” and a slow one.
The difference between the two is the processing time, and how transaction costs are calculated. The fast withdrawal method charges a gas estimate to offer you a quicker way of claiming your funds, while the slow one will submit the transaction and have you pay its gas fee. Sometimes, opting for the slow withdrawal can end up being the smarter choice if you want to save on gas fees.
If you’re interested in saving up even more on gas fees, dYdX offers you gasless transactions when depositing and handling more than 500 USD on their platform for the first time. Volume does matter when you’re trying to boost your gains.
You’re all Done!
Once your deposit is verified, it's time to get trading! Remember to always DYOR, especially when we're talking derivatives. This operation is mostly for the advanced users who have a strong grasp on the markets (and can afford to risk the volatility).
Having completed this advanced operation, we're confident in you knowing your fair share of the ins and outs of DeFi. But have you gotten your credentials to back that up? If you haven't already, now's your chance to complete our DeFi skills to participate in our upcoming quests!
Until next time Quest Rabbit.