dYdX Released An App For Users Outside Of The US: Report

The perpetual contract trading platform dYdX released an app for all users outside of the US which will offer the same functionalities as the website and will be available on the Apple store so let’s find out more about it in today’s latest crypto news.

dYdX released an app on the apple store and joined a select number of decentralized finance protocols that build an app for smartphone use. According to the announcement, the app is ready for use with the project noting that more than 200,000 people already signed up for the beta mode before the full launch. The app offers gas-free deposits and trading and will also provide functionalities that are the same as the website:

“The app offers the same functionality and unparalleled product experience that are available on our main exchange website with the added convenience of being able to trade on your iPhone.”

We are excited to announce that our iOS app is now available to the public! This makes dYdX one of the first DeFi protocols to launch a dedicated mobile app and puts our user experience even more on par with centralized exchanges. Visit https://t.co/YMo3oz5Wz5 to download it! pic.twitter.com/4PE41avSvd

— dYdX (@dYdX) May 10, 2022

The Ethereum layer-2-based platform offers derivatives products like perpetual contracts but has plans to roll out synthetics, margin trading, and spot trading as a part of the pledge in late April to become 100% decentralized by the end of 2022. the app supports a long list of crypto wallets like Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet app, MetaMask, and Huobi Wallet. There are plenty of crypto and digital wallet NFT companies that rolled out mobile apps but it seems that the DEFI sector is yet to capitalize on the area. Looking at the Australian IOS store for example it lists a small sample of DEFI projects like Argent, Cake DEFI, and Snowball alongside dYDx.

The regulatory complaince can become an issue for DEFI platforms but it can also be Apple’s policies that are stopping projects from launching ont the store. Apple prohibits the inclusion of payment rails beyond the ones offered by the company and while It charges a flat 30% commission on in-app purchases of services and digital goods. Another reason could be putting the DEFI sector off which was highlighted by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong back in 2020.

At that time, Coinbase had trouble providing or linking to DeFi services via its app so Apple didn’t allow for exhcnages to offer crypto transactions in non-embedded software in the app. Coinbase among other companies was allowed to only provide services via external links to websites which resulted in an app that had limited functionality. Both the dYdX app and website were not available for US citizens which could be because of regulatory compliance issues.

There also seems to be a gray area around Defi derivatives in the US with the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Dan Berkovitz, saying that the DeFi platforms have to get registered and regulated under the CFTC to offer derivatives or other futures contracts:

“Not only do I think that unlicensed DeFi markets for derivative instruments are a bad idea but I also do not see how they are legal under the CEA.”