Kuyen Labs presents an analysis of the VIP tier of the dYdX Affiliate Program from launch (November 19th) to March 31st, 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: 185 | VIP: 82
- Total Referred Trading Volume: $3.81B | Referred Trading Volume by VIP Affiliates: $3.32B (87%)
- Total Referred Users: 765 | Referred Users by VIP Affiliates: 459 (60%)
- Total Referred Fees: $907K | VIP Referred Fees: $782K (86%)
- Affiliate Commissions Earned: $49K | VIP Affiliates Commissions Earned: $35K (71%)
- 43% of all time referred volume has been generated from addresses new to dYdX
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trading Volume | $16.9B | $10.4B | $7.8B | $7.8B |
| Affiliates Referred Trading Volume | $1.8B | $809M | $74M | $242M |
| Affiliates Share | 11% | 8% | 1% | 3% |
| VIPs Referred Trading Volume | $1.7B | $680M | $3.5M | $107M |
| VIPs Share (of Affiliates) | 93% | 84% | 5% | 44% |
When comparing total trading volume on dYdX to affiliate-driven volume, we see a shift in the program’s contribution over the past months:
- The share of trading volume generated by affiliates moved from ~10% in December to 1% in February and 3% in March.
- VIP affiliates, who previously drove over ~80% of affiliate-related volume, accounted for 5% in February, and started recovering in March.
This shift in affiliate activity appears to be influenced not only by internal program dynamics but also by broader market conditions in February, which likely impacted both traders’ engagement and affiliates’ motivation. This was evident in a notable reduction in OI across futures markets—as well as a rise in liquidations.
Source: Coinglass
Source: Coinglass
This indicates an overall reduction in trading activity for the entire market, which further led to slashed volumes across the board from dYdX affiliates as well.
A key factor in February’s numbers was the decreased activity of a single affiliate who initially contributed a significant portion of the volume, a trend we also noted in last month’s report. While this impacted the overall volume referred by affiliates, the proportion of new users coming through affiliates has remained steady.
This reflects our efforts to onboard and support affiliates with broader audiences—those who may not be directly connected to high-volume traders but instead focus on educational content and community engagement. We’ve been closely monitoring affiliate activity to ensure the integrity of the program while working to diversify our affiliate base and bring in a wider range of users.
2. How many new traders are affiliates bringing in compared to total new signups on dYdX?
| Month | December | January | February | March |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Traders | 2800 | 2000 | 1200 | 1180 |
| New Referred Users | 231 | 119 | 60 | 56 |
| Affiliates Share | 8% | 6% | 5% | 5% |
| New VIP Referred Users | 148 | 55 | 21 | 19 |
| VIPs Share (of affiliates) | 64% | 46% | 35% | 34% |
The share of new traders coming from affiliates has shifted in recent months, presenting an opportunity to strengthen engagement and optimize incentives:
- In December, affiliates accounted for 8% of new traders, while in February and March, they contributed 5%.
- VIP affiliates, who previously brought in the majority of referred users, saw their share decrease from 64% of affiliate-driven signups in December to 35% in February and March.
This highlights the potential to refine strategies and further support affiliates in driving new user growth on dYdX. Strengthening activation and engagement efforts could help maximize their impact.
Who’s Active and Who’s Not?
Not all affiliates are contributing the same way. Some are very active, while others haven’t done anything yet.
1. How many affiliates are actually referring users and generating volume?
Of the 82 VIP affiliates whitelisted so far, 36 have brought in new referrals. That leaves us with a remaining 46 inactive VIP affiliates until the end of March.
This suggests that while there is strong interest in the VIP tier, activation and engagement remain key challenges.
One of the previously identified blockers to activation was the fact that the affiliate links were random and not customized. The dYdX team worked on this issue and in mid-February moved forward with the customization of inactive affiliate links. However, as of March 31st, there is still no activity from most of these affiliates. Connecting with these affiliates to migrate them onto their new referral links has been slightly challenging, and we continue our outreach efforts to ensure a smooth transition and encourage their engagement.
Other reasons why some VIPs still remain inactive:
- Certain affiliates have demanded rewards for successful referrals to other dYdX features (e.g., MegaVault)
- Some VIP affiliates have demanded sponsorships beyond the affiliate program, asking for upfront sponsorship fees before generating any content.
2. Are new affiliates activating quickly, or does it take them a long time to start?
Among active VIP affiliates, half refer their first user within the first two days of being whitelisted, over 60% do so within the first week, and less than 5% take more than a month. This suggests that early activation is key to engagement and long-term performance.
Looking at VIP affiliate activation over time, we see that those who stay in the program longer tend to be more active, but initial engagement remains a challenge.
- Affiliates in the program for over 90 days: 64 total, 36 active (56%), driving 459 referred users and $3.3B in trading volume.
- Affiliates between 60-90 days: 6 total, 3 active (50%), contributing 19 users and $222K in volume.
- Affiliates between 30-60 days: 6 total, 2 active (33%), bringing in 4 users but with only $50K in volume.
- Affiliates with less than 30 days: 6 total, none active.
This suggests that while some affiliates activate quickly, many still struggle to get started, impacting their long-term success. Strengthening early engagement strategies could help improve retention and overall program performance.
3. Do VIP affiliates stay engaged, or do they slow down ?
Looking at the month by month progress of all active VIP affiliates, we can see that there was a very big boost during the first month of launching the affiliate program (November-December) in terms of bringing new users to the platform, which then fades away.
Looking at referred volume month by month, while January saw a slight decrease compared to the previous months, February and March reflected a broader market trend with a general decline. However, some affiliates increased their volume, while others slowed down in bringing new users and activity, creating opportunities to re-engage and drive growth.
If we zoom in on the top performing affiliates at the beginning of the program, we can see that in February they have less activity than before, being the main factor for the drop in volume, and in March they started recovering volume, but with less referred users.
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 February and March, 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 remain focused on re-engaging early high-volume affiliates while strengthening relationships with those consistently bringing new traders. This approach will help diversify the affiliate base and create long-term, stable growth for the program.
The following affiliates have brought 292 new users and over $26M in trading volume, demonstrating a balanced and valuable contribution to the program:
| Affiliate | Referred Users | Referred Volume |
|---|---|---|
| GreenKiteIMX | 102 | $5,966,695.07 |
| HumbleClimb465 | 40 | $4,686,954.63 |
| UmberBadgeHJR | 39 | $2,445,488.10 |
| AptActorYOD | 28 | $5,146,085.59 |
| GrandPetZD2 | 28 | $2,499,618.37 |
| SharpSwan7CS | 16 | $1,157,432.39 |
| SillyCardG8H | 14 | $1,044,571.25 |
| BestBackOMQ | 13 | $2,510,539.12 |
| PureWindRGC | 12 | $1,081,462.74 |
| 292 | $26,538,847.27 |
Next Steps for the VIP Affiliate Program
Admittedly, the trading volume from VIP affiliates in February and March was subpar. But, we’re committed to ensuring that we follow a strategy to ensure that this is fixed in the future. This is how we will achieve that:
- We have identified highly relevant affiliates that are more suited and eligible to bring in relatively higher trading volume to dYdX via the program. We’ll continue to reach out to them, present the affiliate program and get them onboarded.
- We’ll continue to refine the list to ensure that only the most relevant affiliates are shortlisted for the program. We’re confident that this cycle of rinsing and repeating until we have identified and onboarded the most eligible affiliates (including KOLs, media companies, podcasters etc.).
- 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.
To keep our VIP affiliates list fresh and active, we’ve also identified those without any activity.
Affiliates without activity
We have contacted all inactive affiliates, gathering feedback from several of them.
These were some of the feedbacks we received:
- They are looking for a partnership beyond the affiliate program, where both parties take action and benefit.
- They are looking for a paid arrangement as KOLs, influencers or media, using the affiliate link, but not only that.
- They are not comfortable with the random affiliate link they have received and want a custom one (this topic has been addressed before and has been solved recently).
- They are preparing and posting content, and need more time to get results.
The VIP affiliates that so far have had no activity will be followed closely, with the objective of helping them to activate, but in the case of not doing so in the next 30 days we will have to review in which cases it is necessary to delist and open spaces for other affiliates.
Promoting standard affiliates to VIP status
We had many cases already in which affiliates applied to be part of the VIP tier but we did not approve them. 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 do not yet belong to the VIP tier and meet these conditions:
| Affiliate | Referred Users | Referred Volume |
|---|---|---|
| ArdentChalk5FC | 36 | $621,423.84 |
| ZanyHostV9E | 14 | $76,084,322.62 |
| SonicEggYEN | 14 | $1,623,853.28 |
Custom Landing Pages
To improve conversion rates and give affiliates better tools to engage their audiences, the dYdX team is launching custom landing pages for VIP affiliates, designed to enhance trust and provide a more tailored onboarding experience.
An example can be seen here: VIP Affiliate Landing Page – James Bond.
These pages will help affiliates communicate their partnership with dYdX more effectively, providing a seamless and branded experience for new traders. We believe that this initiative will boost engagement and increase the number of new users successfully onboarded through the program.
Audit and risk management
To maintain program integrity and ensure fair participation, we are implementing enhanced monitoring systems for potential gaming behavior. Our analysis has identified several patterns and we will continue to monitor closely.
It’s important to mention that VIP status can be revoked if:
- Best practices are not maintained
- Suspicious trading patterns are detected
- Minimum activity thresholds are not met
- Program terms are violated
We will make sure to communicate all changes to existing VIP affiliates in case any program terms change.
Refreshing content ideas for affiliates
We continue and will keep nurturing 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 on creating various content pieces that they can use to engage their audiences, such as:
- dYdX vs. CEXes – highlighting the benefits of decentralization
- dYdX vs. Hyperliquid – showcasing key differentiators
- Educational content on trading strategies – to help onboard new users
Additionally, the dYdX team has launched new trading competitions to encourage current and new users and will continue introducing even more attractive ones. On top of that, dYdX now offers an improved user experience with its mobile app, making it even easier for traders to engage with the platform.
Identifying new potential VIP affiliates
Since the start of the program we have identified and reach out to 500+ 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 degens who trade and invest in DeFi actively.
In other cases, outreached prospects have expressed interest in an 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 750 new users and generating $3.8B in referred trading volume. However, the past month has shown a notable drop in activity, also among VIP affiliates. The initial momentum of the program’s launch was strong, and while some fluctuations are expected, it’s clear that we need to take proactive steps to improve engagement and performance. We believe that this is just a sliver, and there is still a lot of work to be done.
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. Those who join must be supported, engaged, and encouraged 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.