Looking to trade crypto perpetual swaps, without giving up custody or security? GMX is the leading onchain platform making that possible across multiple blockchains — all while keeping the user experience intuitive and accessible. 

In this guide, we’ll unpack what makes GMX’s non-custodial onchain exchange unique, how it works, and why it continues to gain traction among traders, liquidity providers, and DeFi enthusiasts alike.

1. What is GMX?

GMX is a popular decentralised exchange (DEX) that allows you to trade BTC, ETH, SOL, ARB, and over 70 other top cryptocurrencies directly from your own crypto wallet. The renowned onchain exchange has been live since 2021, has thousands of daily users, and generates significant revenue, which is shared with GMX stakers and anyone who provides liquidity on GMX.

Unlike centralized exchanges, GMX is non-custodial, permissionless, composable, and data transparent. That means:

• No account registration or KYC
• No depositing needed; your assets stay in your wallet
• Other crypto projects can build on top of GMX’s robust DeFi foundation
• And token pricing, trade volume, liquidity depth, and other important market data are all transparently visible on-chain

GMX has been live on Arbitrum One since 2021, facilitating nearly 300 billion in trading volume. The Perpetual DEX launched simultaneously with Arbitrum's Mainnet, as the fast, low-fee, high-throughput blockchain is ideally suited to on-chain trading. GMX is now further expanding with ‘GMX Multichain’, which will allow frictionless trading from other Ethereum-based blockchains directly on its Arbitrum platform.

2. Getting Started with GMX

You only need an Ethereum-compatible wallet (such as Rabby, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, or any WalletConnect-supported wallet). Then:

• Head to gmx.io
• Press the ‘Connect Wallet’ button
• Select the Arbitrum network
• Bridge funds to that network, if needed. (You can deposit to your wallet from a centralised exchange, buy tokens directly, or bridge via Bungee, for example)
• Start trading, staking, or providing liquidity via app.gmx.io

Setup takes less than a minute, and you’re in complete control throughout. For detailed guides, skip ahead to section 7.

3. How Does GMX Work?

GMX V2 is built around unique liquidity pools, known as GM pools, and liquidity vaults, called GLV. Each GM pool backs a single market on GMX. The GLV vaults are yield-optimising vaults that back multiple markets. 

Here's how the system works:

• Traders use the liquidity in the GM pools to open leveraged positions or perform spot swaps
• Liquidity Providers earn rewards by supplying crypto assets to GM or GLV
• Stakers of the GMX token earn protocol fees as rewards

Key GMX Features:

• More than 70 tokens available for trading
• Seamless Perpetual swaps
• Spot swaps with low fees
• Minimal spreads
• Chainlink oracles for real-time, manipulation-resistant token pricing
• Self-custody: You stay in control of your assets

4. The GMX Token Explained

The GMX token powers governance and earns rewards. By staking your GMX, you earn a portion of all the fees the protocol generates: a significant share. These rewards are also paid out in GMX tokens, allowing you to compound your earnings and maximise returns easily. All the GMX tokens distributed to stakers are first bought on the open market, creating a flywheel effect. 

Over 63% of the circulating supply is currently staked to earn rewards. 

To stake, head to app.gmx.io/#/earn, connect your wallet, and start earning passively.

📊 Token Stats as of May 2025:

5. What Sets GMX Apart?

1. Deep On-Chain Liquidity

GMX’s liquidity pools hold 300 to 400 million USD in assets, enabling massive trades with minimal spreads or slippage, regardless of trade size. The exchange relies on decentralised Chainlink oracles for the pricing of its traded assets, making all that liquidity directly available at the current index price: a unique selling point. 

This unique feature is one of the main contrasts with exchanges based on Order Books, where large trades inevitably face slippage. There are even single-sided liquidity pools for BTC/USD and ETH/USD on GMX that ensure traders enjoy zero price impact. 

2. Self-Custody & Transparency

GMX is permissionless. No centralised party holds your funds, as no depositing is required. All transactions are done directly from your self-custody wallet. 

Additionally, all exchange data is transparently visible onchain. For example, you can look at app.gmx.io/#/dashboard or the granular GMX Analytics dashboard on Dune.com for a live snapshot of exchange reserves, user data, market data, and more. 

3. Battle-tested Security

The decentralised GMX exchange has been live since September 2021, has facilitated over $290 billion in volume from more than 800,000 traders, and has built a reputation for reliability. 

Multiple professional security partners have thoroughly audited all the DEX’s smart contracts. Moreover, one of the highest bug bounties ever,  valued at up to 5 million USD,  is available on security platform Immunefi for anyone who finds a critical bug in the GMX protocol.  

4. Efficient Dual Trading Modes

Both perpetual swaps (futures without expiry) and spot swaps are supported, all within an intuitive, unified interface. GMX also enables traders to utilise high leverage on 70+ tokens if preferred, allowing for greater capital efficiency and minimising counterparty risk. 

5. Market-leading returns for LPs

Liquidity providers (LPs) on GMX have historically been quite successful. The GM pools of GMX V2 generally outperform benchmark LP positions and show robust long-term returns. Important factors are that the DEX generates a lot of fees, and liquidity providers face less impermanent loss — a common risk on DeFi platforms like Uniswap.

Users can customize their exposure according to their risk preferences, by utilising GMX’s isolated GM liquidity pools. LPs can also provide liquidity through the GLV liquidity vaults, a simplified set-and-forget solution. 

6. The GMX Ecosystem

GMX has fostered a community-led, builder-focused ecosystem over the last 4+ years. As a result, the protocol now forms a crucial liquidity baselayer for the multichain DeFi ecosystem on Arbitrum. 

Thanks to its composable, high-yield liquidity pools, performant trading system, and grants program, more than 80 other protocols have built on top of its DeFi foundations.

Visit app.gmx.io/#/ecosystem to explore all the integrations and community projects.

7. How to Use GMX

💹 Trading:

Go to app.gmx.io/#/trade

• Select Long or Short (or use Swap for basic Spot trades)
• Choose your collateral and token to trade
• Adjust your leverage
• Set a stop-loss / take-profit if needed
• Click the blue button, and confirm the onchain transaction

You’ll see your open positions under “Positions,” where you can edit collateral, view PnL, or close trades.

💧 Providing Liquidity (with GM & GLV):

Do you want to earn rewards by providing liquidity for a specific asset? 

• Mint GM on the Pools page using any supported token, and earn 63% of all trading fees from that isolated liquidity pool.

Do you want to earn rewards as a liquidity provider (LP) without worrying too much about your exact asset exposure, while increasing your capital efficiency? 

• Mint GLV on the Pools page using any supported token, and earn 63% of trading fees from all the markets supported by that GMX Liquidity Vault. 

GLV offers a straightforward way to provide liquidity on GMX. The GLV vault dynamically allocates its liquidity to GM pools based on their utilisation and demand. This mechanism ensures liquidity flows to the markets that need it most, providing traders with the deep liquidity they need while offering LPs higher capital efficiency.

Visit the detailed Analytics Dashboard for GMX LPs to see how the liquidity pools outperform common benchmark LP positions.

8. What’s Next for GMX?

The GMX DAO has ambitious plans for the protocol. Starting in 2025, new developers, UX specialists, and UI designers have begun contributing to the project. Together, these builders are working on:

• GMX Express – This big tech upgrade introduced gas abstraction and a remedy for blockchain congestion issues, creating a fast, frictionless and interruption-free onchain trading experience. It was successfully launched in June 2025
• GMX Multichain – GMX will be expanding its offerings to additional blockchains, while keeping liquidity unified. Trade and provide liquidity seamlessly on GMX on Arbitrum from any popular EVM blockchain
• UI/UX Upgrades – Continuous interface and design improvements to further streamline the user experience
• GMX V2.3 – Cross-collateral support, Cross-Margin, additional trading fee and price impact decreases, hyper-scaling GMX’s liquidity and Open Interest capacity, and much more

9. Final Thoughts

GMX is fast becoming the gold standard for decentralised, non-custodial on-chain leverage trading. It offers:

• Deep liquidity
• Intuitive trading
• High-yield opportunities
• Community-driven innovation

Whether you're a trader, yield farmer, or DeFi builder, GMX delivers on performance, fairness, and long-term vision.

Ready to take control of your crypto trading? Get started with GMX on Arbitrum now and experience lightning-fast, permissionless onchain leverage trading: 🔗 app.gmx.io/#/trade