GMX vs Hyperliquid Comparison
| 0.04% maker / 0.06% taker (V2) | Fees | 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker |
Cost comparison
The basis is a Bitcoin purchase worth €1,000, including all fees and spreads.
| 0.04% maker / 0.06% taker (V2) | Fees | 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker |
Pros & Cons
- Trading against a liquidity pool — no order-book slippage
- Oracle-based pricing
- 100+ perpetual contracts at up to 100x leverage
- Live on several chains, centred on Arbitrum
- Long operating history in DeFi
- More expensive than fee-free order-book competitors
- Ongoing funding costs weigh on longer holding periods
- Dependence on oracle pricing as a structural risk factor
- No EU authorisation
- Order book held fully on-chain on a purpose-built layer 1
- CEX-level fees from 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker
- No network fees on trades
- 170+ perpetual markets with order types including TWAP
- Self-custody, no mandatory KYC
- No EU authorisation and no regulated counterparty
- Support runs through community channels only
- Leverage is capped tightly on smaller markets — headline figures apply to major markets only
- Tax reporting rests entirely with the user
Score Comparison
Features
- Pool-based model instead of an order book
- No conventional slippage
- Leverage up to 100x
- Established protocol on Arbitrum
- Largest perpetual DEX by trading volume
- Purpose-built layer 1 rather than a rollup dependency
- Fee discount through HYPE staking
- TWAP orders available to retail users
The five areas head to head
AI AnalysisFees & Costs
In version 2, trading fees run around 0.04% for makers and 0.06% for takers. Ongoing funding costs apply to open positions, plus swap fees when collateral is exchanged. Network fees on Arbitrum sit in the range of a few cents. Anyone holding positions for days should price in funding costs above all. As of August 2026.
The entry tier is 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker. Taker fees step down across 14-day volume tiers, with maker rebates at the highest tiers. Further discounts come from HYPE staking and referral links. No network fees apply on the native layer 1, so the trading fee reflects the actual cost. As of August 2026.
Usability & User Experience
The interface is deliberately simple and one of the more approachable entries in the segment — position size, leverage and collateral are set in a few steps. Anyone unfamiliar with the pool model should read up on funding costs and oracle pricing first. As of August 2026.
The interface follows classic futures terminals and assumes working knowledge of margin, funding and liquidation prices. Access is by wallet connection with no registration step. As of August 2026.
Features & Offering
More than 100 perpetual contracts trade against a liquidity pool, with WETH, USDC or GMX serving as collateral. Pricing comes from oracle feeds rather than an order book. Beyond trading, users can supply liquidity; the protocol's fees flow predominantly to those providers. As of August 2026.
More than 170 perpetual markets trade against USDC collateral. Alongside market, limit, stop-loss and take-profit orders, TWAP execution spreads larger positions over time — a feature usually reserved for institutional interfaces. Margin can be run isolated or cross. As of August 2026.
Details
| GMX Protocol | Company | Hyperliquid Labs |
| Decentralised, no registered office | Headquarters | United States |
Verdict
In our overall rating Hyperliquid leads with 4.8 against 4.2 for GMX.
For most investors Hyperliquid is therefore the better choice.
GMX takes a different route from order-book DEXs: trades run against a liquidity pool and prices come from oracle feeds. That has a practical benefit — even larger positions execute without the slippage a thin order book would produce. The counterweight is that liquidity providers carry the risk and are compensated through fees.
In version 2, trading fees run around 0.04% for makers and 0.06% for takers, plus ongoing funding costs on open positions. That makes GMX more expensive than the fee-free order-book competitors, particularly for positions held over longer periods.
The centre of gravity remains Arbitrum, with the protocol also live on Avalanche and further chains. More than 100 perpetual contracts trade at up to 100x leverage. GMX suits traders building larger positions who want to avoid order-book slippage and who price in funding costs. The platform holds no EU authorisation; perpetuals sit outside MiCA in any case, and tax reporting rests entirely with the user.
Hyperliquid is the reference point among perpetual DEXs. Trading runs through an order book held entirely on-chain on a purpose-built layer 1 rather than through an AMM pool, which in practice delivers execution close to a centralised exchange while custody stays with the user.
Entry-tier fees are 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker and fall further across volume tiers; staking HYPE reduces them again. No network fees apply on the native layer 1. Leverage is tiered by market — up to 40x on Bitcoin and considerably lower on smaller markets.
The regulatory picture is straightforward: Hyperliquid holds no EU authorisation, and perpetuals sit outside MiCA in any case. There is no withholding at source, so tax reporting rests entirely with the user. The platform suits experienced traders who weight self-custody and execution quality above regulatory protection.