Kuyen Labs presents an analysis of the VIP tier of the dYdX Affiliate Program from launch (November 19th) to April 30th, 2025. This report examines the VIP tier performance within the larger dYdX affiliate program and the dYdX ecosystem, highlighting key achievements, challenges, and strategic next steps.
Affiliate Program KPIs
- Total Affiliates: 204 | VIP: 87
- Total Referred Trading Volume: $4B | Referred Trading Volume by VIP Affiliates: $3.47B (87%)
- Total Referred Users: 862 | Referred Users by VIP Affiliates: 499 (58%)
- Total Referred Fees: $968K | VIP Referred Fees: $824K (85%)
- Affiliate Commissions Earned: $53K | VIP Affiliates Commissions Earned: $37K (70%)
Overview: Where Does the Affiliate Program Stand?
First, let’s look at the big picture:
1. How much volume are affiliates generating compared to dYdX’s total trading volume?
| Month | December | January | February | March | April |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trading Volume | $16.9B | $10.4B | $7.8B | $7.8B | 5.8B |
| Affiliates Referred Trading Volume | $1.8B | $809M | $74M | $242M | $217M |
| Affiliates Share | 11% | 8% | 1% | 3% | 3.7% |
| VIPs Referred Trading Volume | $1.7B | $680M | $3.5M | $107M | $141M |
| VIPs Share (of Affiliates) | 93% | 84% | 5% | 44% | 65% |
Through the combined efforts of Fuul and dYdX, the impact of VIPs’ referred trading volume has slightly increased. Although dYdX’s total trading is lower than last month, the VIP affiliates have generated more volume.
2. How many new traders are affiliates bringing in compared to total new signups on dYdX?
| Month | December | January | February | March | April |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Traders | 2800 | 2000 | 1200 | 1180 | 1470 |
| New Referred Users | 231 | 119 | 60 | 56 | 96 |
| Affiliates Share | 8% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 6,5% |
| New VIP Referred Users | 148 | 55 | 21 | 19 | 40 |
| VIPs Share (of affiliates) | 64% | 46% | 35% | 34% | 42% |
As with trading volume, the impact of affiliates has begun to strengthen in the last month—especially in the number of referred users which has grown from 5% to 6.5%.
Who’s Active and Who’s Not?
Not all affiliates are contributing the same way. Some are very active, while others are yet to refer traders.
How many affiliates are actually referring users and generating volume?
Of the 87 VIP affiliates whitelisted so far, 45 have brought in new referrals. That leaves us with a remaining 42 inactive VIP affiliates until the end of April.
This suggests that while there is strong interest in the VIP tier, activation and engagement remain key challenges.
Reasons why some VIPs still remain inactive:
- Demand for rewards for successful referrals to other dYdX features (e.g., MegaVault)
- Demand for sponsorships beyond the affiliate program, asking for upfront sponsorship fees before generating any content.
- Some have referred traffic but still have not generated conversions.
While referred trading volume remains an important metric, we’ve previously identified that a significant portion of the total volume comes from just a few high-value traders. In April, this trend continued, reinforcing our decision to also prioritize new referred users as a key indicator of affiliate impact.
Although some top-performing affiliates from the program’s launch have slowed down, others have continued bringing in new users, ensuring a more balanced and sustainable contribution. This shift aligns with our broader goal of onboarding and supporting affiliates with engaged communities even if they don’t necessarily drive whale-level volume.
We are actively strengthening ties with the existing affiliates and working with them hand-in-glove to ensure they deliver and refer consistent volume. This approach is proving to be useful as we’re seeing an uptick in overall referral activity.
The following affiliates have brought 303 new users and over $30M in trading volume, demonstrating a balanced and valuable contribution to the program:
| Affiliate | Referred Users | Referred Volume |
|---|---|---|
| GreenKiteIMX | 103 | $6,083,643.75 |
| HumbleClimb465 | 40 | $4,702,053.00 |
| UmberBadgeHJR | 39 | $2,445,620.18 |
| AptActorYOD | 33 | $5,657,933.19 |
| GrandPetZD2 | 28 | $2,609,859.28 |
| SharpSwan7CS | 20 | $1,233,643.08 |
| SillyCardG8H | 15 | $3,817,470.36 |
| BestBackOMQ | 13 | $2,589,892.04 |
| PureWindRGC | 12 | $1,083,663.71 |
| 303 | $30,223,778.59 |
Next Steps for the VIP Affiliate Program
The numbers see a steady growth (in the number of users referred) in April—thanks to the combined efforts of Fuul and dYdX team. We’re confident that our plan to accelerate the dYdX affiliate program and re-empower our affiliates will help the entire program get better in the coming months.
Here’s a list of action items we’re focusing on everyday:
- Onboard new and potent affiliates that can help accelerate referred trading volume to dYdX . Work closely with them to make their journey as an affiliate a success–all while ensuring dYdX benefits from them too.
- Filter for the most effective affiliates, and double down on those that have referred both traffic and volume. This way, we’ll establish much stronger ties with the most effective affiliates that can consistently refer traffic and volume.
- Empower affiliates with regular content types to help them attract traders from their audiences. These include content that compares dYdX with existing perp DEXes and prompts users/traders to use it as their preferred trading DEX.
Promoting standard affiliates to VIP status
We had many cases already in which affiliates applied to be part of the VIP tier but they were not approved. In these cases, we encourage affiliates to prove their potential impact on the standard affiliate program and later promote them to the VIP tier. We’re happy to have already promoted affiliates into the VIP tier after proving themselves on the standard program. We will continue to pay attention to standard affiliates who have at least 10+ referred users and $200,000+ referred volume.
Affiliates who we are happy to upgrade to the VIP tier:
| Affiliate | Referred Users | Referred Volume |
|---|---|---|
| ArdentChalk5FC | 44 | $844,098.42 |
| ZanyHostV9E | 14 | $80,157,894.26 |
| SonicEggYEN | 14 | $1,935,520.10 |
If you are one of these three affiliates, please fill out the applucation form at https://dydx-affiliates.fuul.xyz/ so that we can onboard you.
Refreshing content ideas for affiliates
We continue to improve the Welcome Package so new affiliates can find useful content and ideas to spread the word and reach new users who join dYdX.
To further support affiliates, we’re also working with each of them closely via Media Briefing Documents. As part of these, we offer affiliates actionable info on how they can promote their affiliate links via content. Some of the ideas we’re currently exploring are:
- dYdX vs. CEXes – highlighting the benefits of decentralization
- dYdX vs. major perp DEXes – showcasing key differentiators
- Educational content on trading strategies – to help onboard new users
Identifying new potential VIP affiliates
Since the start of the program we have identified and reached out to 800+ potential VIP affiliates, who are at different stages of the onboarding pipeline. Our outreaches have been successful and we’re already in process of onboarding a few of those affiliates. Some of these affiliates are communities with DeFi-native users who trade and invest in DeFi actively.
In other cases, outreached prospects have expressed interest in a financial arrangement beyond the affiliate program, or simply have no interest in working under an affiliate model. At the same time, we are making changes to our message and testing different options, as well as looking for other people within the same organizations or other channels of contact that can be more active.
We’re confident that in the subsequent month we’ll see more activity coming in from the VIP affiliates.
Conclusion
The dYdX Affiliate Program has proven its potential, bringing in over 860 new users and generating $4B in referred trading volume. Compared to the previous month, we’re seeing an uptick in activity—in the number of referred users—in April, which emphasizes that our concerted efforts are proving to be useful.
Moving forward, our strategy will focus on:
- Understanding why high-volume affiliates became less active and addressing it quickly. We are analyzing their disengagement and identifying ways to bring them back or adapt our approach to retain similar affiliates in the future.
- Refining the VIP tier to ensure active participation. We will review current VIP affiliates and focus on those who show consistent engagement and impact, while also accelerating the onboarding of new affiliates who can bring sustainable results.
- Optimizing incentives for long-term user growth. Rather than focusing only on volume, we aim to reward affiliates who contribute to sustained user activity and engagement.
- Activating and retaining affiliates. We strive to support, engage, and encourage all affiliates to start referring users as soon as possible.
- Expanding outreach. We will continue onboarding strong affiliates who align with dYdX’s long-term vision.
- Providing better content and incentives. Upcoming trading competitions and educational materials will give affiliates new tools to attract and retain traders.
By making these adjustments, we aim to strengthen the program’s foundation and create a more engaged, long-term affiliate network. With a focus on activation, sustainable incentives, and better alignment with affiliate needs, we are confident that we can drive stronger results in the coming months.