Decentralized exchange dYdX recently announced the launch of a large-scale incentive program, with a $20 million reward pool distributed over nine seasons. The design of this mechanism is quite interesting — traders do not need to register in advance; simply trading on the platform automatically enrolls them in the competition.

Reward distribution adopts a differentiated strategy, set across multiple dimensions such as trading fee levels, exclusive tasks for retail traders, and returning users. The platform also added a bonus market feature, allowing traders to earn leaderboard points through specific actions, overall moving towards a gamified competition approach. Interestingly, this set of rules is entirely governed by the DAO community, leaving significant room for future adjustments.

From an operational perspective, this type of incentive model indeed easily stimulates trading enthusiasm. By distributing rewards in long-term phases, it can create sustained participation motivation, which should help with platform liquidity return. The gamified competition mechanism also caters to current traders’ preferences — many enjoy the feeling of leaderboard competition.

The question is whether it can truly retain users. Short-term participants chasing rewards and those who genuinely believe in the platform’s long-term development are actually quite different groups.