How and Where to Buy DerivaDEX (DDX) – Detailed Guide

What is DDX?

What Is Deriva DAO (DDX)?

Deriva DAO is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for derivatives on Ethereum. It prides itself on offering key performance advantages over other DEXs like a real-time price feed, fast trade resolution, and a competitive fee structure. By being a DAO from the beginning, Deriva DAO’s traders and token holders directly control and govern the platform.

Deriva DAO aims to fill the void at the intersection of trading and blockchain by addressing the problems faced by other centralized and decentralized exchanges. Deriva solves the weak security and potential regulatory issues faced by CEXs by building as a DAO, thereby removing censorship concerns and a single point of failure. It also offers a performant and capital-efficient user experience with an order book model that addresses the liquidity and UX issues of decentralized exchanges. With its off-chain price feeds, matching engine, and liquidation operators, Deriva DAO promises to match the speed and efficiency of centralized exchanges.

Who Are the Founders of Deriva DAO?

Deriva DAO was founded by Aditya Palepu, a Duke alumnus and former algorithmic trader with experience in software engineering. He is supported by a team of nine, including co-founder Frederic Fortier, a San Francisco-based software engineer with over a decade of experience building distributed systems.

Deriva DAO is also supported by an impressive array of investors after closing several rounds for a total of $2.7 million. On the investor list are names such as Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Electric Capital, Dragonfly Capital Partners, CMS Holdings, Three Arrows Capital, Calvin Liu (the strategy lead of Compound), and crypto researcher Phil Daian.

What Makes Deriva DAO Unique?

Deriva DAO aims to stand out from the DEX crowd by utilizing a unique architecture. Unlike other exchanges, Deriva DAO handles trading and other exchange-related transactions not on a public blockchain but its DerivaDEX operator network. The DAO manages two tranches of staked insurance funds from its insurance mining program and organic insurance funds from its exchange fees on this L2 in order to backstop traders against auto-deleveraging.

This custom layer-two solution allows Deriva to compete with CEXs on speed and cost. High-frequency trading is only possible if sub-second transaction finality is guaranteed, which Deriva achieves through its custom L2. Moreover, users do not have to bother with high Ethereum gas fees in this case.

Using this architecture, Deriva focuses on enabling the core functionality of a centralized exchange in a non-custodial manner. All funds are custodied and secured by the Ethereum network. In contrast to other L2 solutions like zk-rollups or optimistic rollups, the centralized order sequencer has no discretion over the order flow on Deriva (like they would on a CEX) and users don’t suffer from long wait times for on-chain transactions (in case of optimistic rollups).

Related Pages:

Check out dYdX (DYDX) — one of the most popular decentralized exchanges.

Check out Idex (IDEX) — a decentralized exchange for trading futures.

Read our deep dive about decentralized liquidity pools.

Get the latest crypto news and latest trading insights with the CoinMarketCap blog.

How Many Deriva DAO (DDX) Coins Are There in Circulation?

The total supply of DDX is 100 million. 50% is emitted as part of the genesis supply, and 50% will be emitted over ten years as part of the liquidity mining supply. DDX has the following token allocation:

  • 34,005,404 DDX from the genesis supply are allocated to the team and DerivaDAO foundation. 21,263,737 are unlocked upon network launch.
  • 15,334,596 DDX from the genesis supply are allocated to investors on a one-year linear schedule.
  • 660,000 DDX from the genesis supply are allocated to advisors.460,000 DDX on a two-year linear schedule, 200,000 on schedules of three months or less.
  • 2,500,000 DDX from the liquidity mining supply will be emitted linearly over one year as part of the insurance mining program
  • The remaining 47,500,000 DDX will be emitted over ten years

How Is the Deriva DAO Network Secured?

Deriva DAO’s smart contracts have been audited by Quantstamp and found to be of high quality. The protocol is secured by Ethereum, one of the most popular blockchains for DAOs and secured by a proof-of-work consensus mechanism that requires miners to mine new Ether. A set of decentralized nodes validates transactions and secures the Ethereum blockchain.

Its custom L2 solution is a purpose-built sidechain of operators executing code within trusted execution environments. This guarantees that code within this environment cannot be tempered with, and executions in this environment can be proven. On its sidechain, Deriva utilizes Raft and a checkpoint consensus mechanism. In Raft, operators ensure that orders and other exchange transactions are valid by relaying a hash of the entire state of the exchange to Ethereum.

Where Can You Buy Deriva DAO (DDX)?

DDX is available on Coinbase Exchange, Uniswap (V2), Sushiswap, Hoo and CoinEx.

DDX was first tradable on 29th Sep, 2020. It has a total supply of unknown. As of right now DDX has a market capitalization of USD $unknown. The current price of DDX is $12.71 and is ranked 2541 on Coinmarketcap and has recently surged 51.78 percent at the time of writing.

DDX has been listed on a number of crypto exchanges, unlike other main cryptocurrencies, it cannot be directly purchased with fiats money. However, You can still easily buy this coin by first buying USDT from any fiat-to-crypto exchanges and then transfer to the exchange that offers to trade this coin, in this guide article we will walk you through in detail the steps to buy DDX.

Step 1: Register on Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange

You will have to first buy one of the major cryptocurrencies, in this case, USDT (USDT). In this article we will walk you through in details two of the most commonly-used fiat-to-crypto exchanges, Uphold.com and Coinbase. Both exchanges have their own fee policies and other features that we will go through in detail. It is recommended that you try both of them and figure out the one that suits you best.

uphold

Suitable for US traders

Select Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange for details:

DDX

Being one of the most popular and convenient fiat-to-crypto exchanges, UpHold has the following advantages:

  • Easy to buy and trade among multiple assets, more than 50 and still adding
  • Currently more than 7M users worldwide
  • You can apply for UpHold Debit card where you can spend the crypto assets on your account like a normal debit card! (US only but will be in the UK later)
  • Easy to use mobile app where you can withdraw fund to a bank or any other altcoin exchanges easily
  • No hidden fees and any other account fees
  • There are limited buy/sell orders for more advanced users
  • You can easily set up recurring deposits for Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) if you intend to hold cryptos long term
  • USDT, which is one of the most popular USD-backed stablecoins (basically a crypto that is backed by real fiat money so they are less volatile and can be treated almost as the fiat money it's pegged with) is available, this is more convenient if the altcoin you intend to buy has only USDT trading pairs on the altcoin exchange so you don't have to go through another currency conversion while you buy the altcoin.
Show Details Steps ▾
DDX

Type your email and click 'Next'. Make sure you provide your real name as UpHold will need it for account and identity verification. Choose a strong password so that your account isn't vulnerable to hackers.

DDX

You will receive a confirmation email. Open it and click on the link within. You will then be required to provide a valid mobile number to set up two-factor authentication (2FA), it is an extra layer to the security of your account and it is highly recommended that you keep this feature turned on.

DDX

Follow the next step to finish your identity verification. These steps are a bit daunting especially when you are waiting to buy an asset but just like any other financial institutions, UpHold is regulated in most countries such as the US, the UK and the EU. You can take this as a trade-off to using a trusted platform to make your first crypto purchase. Good news is that the whole so-called Know-Your-Customers (KYC) process is now fully automated and it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to finish.

Step 2: Buy USDT with fiat money

DDX

Once you finished the KYC process. You will be asked to add a payment method. Here you can either choose to provide a credit/debit card or use a bank transfer. You may be charged higher fees depending on your credit card company and the volatile prices when using cards but you will also make an instant purchase. While a bank transfer will be cheaper but slower, depending on the country of your residence, some countries will offer instant cash deposit with low fees.

DDX

Now you are all set, on the 'Transact' screen under the 'From' field, select your fiat currency, and then on the 'To' field choose USDT, click preview to review your transaction and the click confirm if everything looks good... and congrats! You've just made your first crypto purchase.

Step 3: Transfer USDT to an Altcoin Exchange

DDX

But we are not done yet, since DDX is an altcoin we need to transfer our USDT to an exchange that DDX can be traded, here we will use MXC as our exchange. MXC is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.

Launched in Apr 2018, MXC is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange registered in Seychelles. It supports CNY, VND, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD deposit, and CNY, VND withdrawal. As far as we can tell, US-investors may trade at MXC. It offers trading in 242 coins and has 374 trading pairs. They are currently no. 7 in terms of the most supported cryptocurrencies compared to other spot trading exchanges according to Coingecko. Most importantly, MXC is ON TOP of the Decentralised Finance (DeFi) wave and constantly adding support for DeFi coins.

DDX

After going through a similar process as we've done before with UpHold, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.

Step 4: Deposit USDT to exchange

DDX

Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you're done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.

DDX

If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don't worry, it's basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying 'USDT address', this is a unique public address of your USDT wallet at MXC and you can receive USDT by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought USDT on UpHold to this wallet, click on 'Copy Address' or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.

Now head back to UpHold, go to the Transact screen and click on USDT on the "From" field, choose the amount you wan to send and on the "To" field choose USDT under "Crypto Network", then click "Preview withdraw".

On the next screen, paste the wallet address from your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both addresses are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.

After reviewing, click 'Confirm' to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to MXC!

DDX

Now go back to MXC and head to your exchange wallets, don't worry if you haven't seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the USDT network, during busy times it may take even longer.

You should receive a confirmation notification from MXC once your USDT has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase DDX!

Step 5: Trade DDX

DDX

Go back to MXC, then go to 'Exchange'. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let's get our heads around this.

DDX

In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure "USDT" is selected as we are trading USDT to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in "DDX", you should see DDX/USDT, select that pair and you should see a price chart of DDX/USDT in the middle of the page.

Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy DDX", inside of the box, choose the "Market" tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your USDT deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy DDX". Voila! You have finally bought DDX!

Last Step: Store DDX securely in hardware wallets

Ledger Nano S

Ledger Nano S

  • Easy to set up and friendly interface
  • Can be used on desktops and laptops
  • Lightweight and Portable
  • Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20/BEP-20) tokens
  • Multiple languages available
  • Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
  • Affordable price
Ledger Nano X

Ledger Nano X

  • More powerful secure element chip (ST33) than Ledger Nano S
  • Can be used on desktop or laptop, or even smartphone and tablet through Bluetooth integration
  • Lightweight and Portable with built-in rechargeable battery
  • Larger screen
  • More storage space than Ledger Nano S
  • Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20/BEP-20) tokens
  • Multiple languages available
  • Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
  • Affordable price

If you are planning to keep("hodl" as some may say, basically misspelt "hold" which get popularised over time) your DDX for a considerable long time, you may want to explore ways of keeping it safe, although Binance is one of the safest cryptocurrency exchange there had been hacking incidents and funds were lost. Because of the very nature of the wallets in exchanges, they will be always online("Hot Wallets" as we call them), therefore exposing certain aspects of vulnerabilities. The safest way of storing your coins to date is always putting them into a type of "Cold Wallets", where the wallet will only have access to the blockchain(or simply "go online") when you send out funds, reducing the chances of hacking incidents. A paper wallet is a type of free cold wallet, it's basically an offline-generated pair of public and private address and you will have it written somewhere, and keep it safe. However, it is not durable and is susceptible to various hazards.

Hardware wallet here is definitely a better option of cold wallets. They are usually USB-enabled devices that store the key information of your wallet in a more durable way. They are built with military-level security and their firmware are constantly maintained by their manufacturers and thus extremely safe. Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X and are the most popular options in this category, these wallets cost around $50 to $100 depending on the features they are offering. If you are holding your assets these wallets are a good investment in our opinion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I buy DDX with cash?

There is no direct way to buy DDX with cash. However, you can use marketplaces such as LocalBitcoins to first purchase USDT, and finish the rest of the steps by transferring your USDT to respective AltCoin exchanges.

LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange. It is a marketplace where users can buy and sell Bitcoins to and from each other. Users, called traders, create advertisements with the price and the payment method they want to offer. You can choose to buy from sellers from a certain nearby region on the platform. is after all a good place to go to buy Bitcoins when you can't find your desired payment methods anywhere else. But prices are usually higher on this platform and you have to do your due diligence to avoid getting scammed.

Are there any quick ways to buy DDX in Europe?

Yes, in fact, Europe is one of the easiest places to buy cryptos in general. There are even online banks which you can simply open an account and transfer money to exchanges such as Coinbase and Uphold.

Are there any alternative platforms to buy DDX or Bitcoin with credit cards?

Yes. is also a very easy to use platform for buying Bitcoin with credit cards. It is an instant cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to exchange crypto fast and buy it with a bank card. Its user interface is very easy to use and the buying steps are pretty self-explanatory.

Read more on DerivaDEX's fundamentals and current price here.

Latest News for DDX

DerivaDEX3 years ago
RT @mbaril010: We are now on DefiPulse! Thanks to the awesome team there. It was super nice working with you to make this happen. 🚀 https:/…
DerivaDEX3 years ago
RT @defipulse: 🎊 🎊 NEW LISTING 🎊 🎊 🥳 DerivaDEX is now listed in our #DeFi rankings at #34 with $17.6M TVL. https://t.co/Ikx6YEah7E @DDX_Of…
DerivaDEX3 years ago
Want to see DerivaDEX on @zerion_io ? Vote here -->https://t.co/kmA4r1pLcD
DerivaDEX3 years ago
RT @thulynnn: Happy New Years! From @DDX_Official Chinese community! 2021= year of decentralized derivatives! Stay tuned and build together…
DerivaDEX3 years ago
RT @coinmary_joy: @LegitoCrypto @iamjosephyoung @DDX_Official @coinbase @cmsholdings @dragonfly_cap @zhusu similar opinion. here a good wat…
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