What is GMX?
GMX is one of the longest-running decentralized perpetual exchanges, offering 100+ markets with up to 100x leverage. Markets now include gold, silver, oil, natural gas and US index products alongside crypto.
GMX V2 prices trades from oracles and backs them with isolated GM liquidity pools, plus GLV vaults that bundle several pools. Liquidity providers earn fees from trading, swaps and borrowing.
The exchange runs on Arbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH and Solana. GMX Account lets users deposit from Ethereum, Base or BNB Chain without manual bridging, and Express Trading uses subaccounts for one-click orders.
Order types include market, limit, stop-loss, take-profit, stop-market and TWAP. A TypeScript SDK, public API and AI-agent skills cover programmatic trading.
V2 contracts have been audited by Guardian, ABDK, Certora, Dedaub and Sherlock, with an Immunefi bug bounty. In July 2025 the legacy V1 GLP pool on Arbitrum was exploited for about $42M, most of which was returned by the attacker; V2 was not affected.
Good fit for
- Self-custody traders wanting crypto and commodity perps
- Builders integrating perps through an SDK
Not ideal for
- Traders needing an order book and maker rebates
- Beginners unfamiliar with funding and price impact
GMX Atlas AI Score
8.3 / 10 Excellent
Confidence: High
GMX is a mature, well-audited perp DEX with transparent base fees and a growing range of TradFi markets. Factor in price impact and borrowing costs, especially when holding positions for longer.
Multi-asset perps, swaps, pools, SDK.
Fully documented, several components.
Many audits; V1 incident in 2025.
Live since 2021 on several chains.
Extensive docs and API references.
Scored by AI from official sources on October 27, 2026. No hands-on testing or security audit. How we score
GMX features
- Markets
- 100+ crypto, metals, energy, indices
- Leverage
- Up to 100x
- Chains
- Arbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH, Solana
- Liquidity
- GM pools and GLV vaults
- Orders
- Market, limit, TP/SL, stop, TWAP
- Onboarding
- GMX Account from Ethereum, Base, BNB
- One-click
- Express Trading with subaccounts
- Developers
- SDK, API, agent skills
GMX fees
| Item | Rate |
|---|---|
| Position open/close (most markets) | 0.04% balancing / 0.06% imbalancing |
| Gold, oil, SPY, QQQ (on-hours) | 0.01% / 0.02% |
| Standard swap | 0.05% / 0.07% |
| Stablecoin swap (Arbitrum) | 0%-0.02% |
Most markets charge 0.04% of position size when your trade reduces the long/short imbalance and 0.06% when it increases it, on both open and close. TradFi markets such as gold, oil, SPY and QQQ have lower on-hours rates from 0.01%/0.02%.
Swaps cost 0.05% or 0.07%, stablecoin swaps 0%-0.02%. Positions also pay or receive funding, pay borrowing fees, and face price impact, which can be negative or positive. Network execution fees are charged per order.
GMX pros and cons
Pros
- Low, clearly documented base fees
- Self-custody with broad audit coverage
- TradFi markets available around the clock
- Long track record and deep integrations
Cons
- Price impact and borrowing fees complicate costs
- Past V1 exploit is a reminder of contract risk
- Leverage lower than some perp DEXs
- Interface is dense for beginners
GMX vs Deribit vs Aevo
The closest alternatives in our catalog: same market first, then the highest-scoring products.
| Feature | GMX | Deribit | Aevo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Decentralized perpetual and spot exchange with pool-based liquidity | Centralized crypto options and futures exchange, owned by Coinbase | Decentralized options and perpetuals exchange on its own Layer 2 |
| Platform | Web (app.gmx.io) · Arbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH, Solana · deposits from Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain · SDK and API | Web, iOS, Android, REST/WebSocket/FIX API, testnet · BTC, ETH, SOL and more | Web, API, MCP · Aevo L2 (OP Stack); deposits from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base |
| Trading fee | 0.04%-0.06% open/close on most markets; swaps 0.05%-0.07%; plus price impact, funding, borrowing and gas | Options 0.03% of underlying (cap 12.5% of premium); perps/futures 0.015% maker, 0.035% taker | Perps 0.05% maker / 0.08% taker; options 0.03% / 0.05% |
| Custody | Non-custodial; trades settle from your own wallet or GMX Account | Custodial exchange accounts with KYC; not available in the US and other restricted regions | Self-custodial deposits into on-chain contracts; off-chain order matching |
| Telegram | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Atlas AI Score | 8.3 / 10 | 8.5 / 10 | 8.1 / 10 |
| Confidence | High | High | High |
How to get started with GMX
- Open app.gmx.io and connect a wallet.
- Choose a network or fund GMX Account from another chain.
- Review fees and price impact in the trade box.
- Open a small position with a stop-loss.
