GMX

GMX is a decentralized exchange protocol for spot swaps and perpetual trading. It launched on Arbitrum in September 2021 and emerged from the XVIX and Gambit communities, with an anonymous founding team and pseudonymous contributors.^[35][36] GMX uses pool-based liquidity and oracle-based pricing rather than an order book.^[28]

Overview

GMX is a multichain, non-custodial protocol for spot swaps and perpetual trading. GMX’s official app listing identifies Arbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH, and Solana as deployments. Its documentation identifies Ethereum, Base, and BNB as GMX Account access and source chains: deposits from those chains are used to open positions on Arbitrum markets, not markets directly deployed on those source chains.^[29][37]

GMX lists more than 100 markets, including crypto markets and 24/7 TradFi markets such as gold, silver, oil, natural gas, and U.S. equities. Leverage and market availability depend on the market and deployment; leverage of up to 100x is available only where supported. Orders use GM and GLV pools and oracle index prices rather than an order book. Documentation states that liquidity providers receive 63% of fees on Arbitrum and Avalanche.^[29][28]

In September 2025, GMX introduced LayerZero-based cross-chain access, allowing users to access existing GMX deployments and trade perps and spot without manually bridging to a separate interface.^[16]

GMX V1 used Chainlink oracle pricing, while V2 uses Chainlink Data Streams. Data Streams provide signed, low-latency price reports that are verified on-chain. Side-specific oracle prices inform order entry and exit values, profit and loss (PnL), and liquidation checks; oracle pricing does not eliminate liquidation risk.^[15][38][39]

A governance vote on the Chainlink low-latency oracle integration concluded on April 25, 2023, at 12:00 a.m. UTC, with 96% of participating GMX tokenholders voting in favor.^[11][12] GMX announced that V2 began using Data Streams on Arbitrum on October 2, 2023.^[15]

History

In 2024, GMX rolled out V2.1 changes, including liquidity shifts, automatic cancellation of related orders, atomic withdrawals, kink borrowing rates, adaptive funding, and dynamic price-impact and risk parameters. The changes also included Chainlink Data Streams and GLV vaults that automatically reallocate liquidity among supported GM markets.^[17]

On July 2, 2025, GMX V2 launched on Botanix with BTC/USD markets and liquidity pools.^[18] Botanix Labs announced on June 5, 2026 that it would wind down the network. Its announced target schedule set July 1 for initial wind-down, a two-week grace period through July 15, and a possible final shutdown by August 1. These were target dates in the announcement.^[19] GMX SDK version 1.6.4 removed Botanix chain support on July 31, 2026.^[31]

On July 9, 2025, a reentrancy vulnerability in GMX V1 on Arbitrum affected approximately $40 million in GLP. A reentrant call bypassed average-short-price tracking and manipulated GLP’s assets-under-management accounting. The compromised funds were returned after a $5 million bounty, and GMX V2 was unaffected. GMX permanently disabled the opening of new V1 Arbitrum positions and existing orders.^[20]

On August 13, 2025, GMX announced a distribution of approximately $44 million to affected Arbitrum GLP holders in two GLV tokens. The amount included a $2 million contribution from the treasury. The distribution also included $500,000 in retention incentives for claimants who held GLV for three months. GMX described GLV as a V2 successor built on GM pools.^[21]

On September 29, 2025, GMX Multichain launched on Base using LayerZero. It enabled users to access existing GMX deployments and trade perps and spot without manually bridging to a separate interface. The launch announcement named Arbitrum, Avalanche, Solana, and Botanix as deployments then available; Botanix was one of the deployments named at launch.^[16]

GMX launched on MegaETH on March 30, 2026, with BTC/USD, ETH/USD, and SOL/USD perpetual markets and a single-sided, USDm-backed GLV liquidity vault. The launch description specified leverage of up to 50x.^[22]

In March 2026, the DAO’s strategic plan proposed moving approximately 600,000 GMX from treasury-controlled Uniswap and Trader Joe liquidity into the GMX-USDC pool and GMTrade.xyz, the community-built GMX deployment on Solana. On May 8, 2026, GMX Labs reported that phase one of the liquidity restructuring was complete and that 168,500 GMX had been bought back for approximately $1.1 million since March.^[26][27]

Technology and Architecture

GMX uses isolated GM pools for market liquidity. Each GM pool represents exposure to one market; liquidity providers take the other side of trader PnL and receive pool fees. GLV vaults hold GM pool tokens and dynamically allocate or rebalance liquidity across supported GM markets, unlike an individual GM pool, which represents one market.^[21][17]

A perpetual trader deposits selected collateral as margin to support a leveraged long or short position. GMX V2 calculates linear, USD-based PnL from position size and oracle price movement. Gains, losses, and fees affect the pool’s liabilities and value. Positions can be liquidated when remaining collateral after losses, accrued fees, and applicable negative price impact falls below the market’s minimum collateral threshold. Oracle prices and market risk parameters govern that check; oracle pricing does not prevent liquidation.^[38][39]

V2 uses Chainlink Data Streams, which provide signed, low-latency price reports verified on-chain. Side-specific oracle prices inform position entry and exit, PnL, and liquidation checks.^[15][38]

Borrowing fees accrue according to pool utilization and open interest. Where configured, a kink model raises borrowing rates more sharply above an optimal utilization level. Adaptive funding transfers fees between the more crowded and less crowded side to encourage long/short balance. Dynamic price impact responds to changes in open-interest imbalance, charging or crediting trades according to whether they worsen or reduce that imbalance, subject to market parameters.^[40]

V2.1 changes included liquidity shifts, automatic cancellation of related orders, atomic withdrawals, kink borrowing rates, adaptive funding, dynamic price-impact and risk parameters, Data Streams, and GLV vaults. These changes affect liquidity management, order handling, fees, and market risk parameters.^[17]

GMX V2

In May 2023, GMX announced that its V2 testnet was publicly available. The testnet included market, limit, and trigger orders; combinations of pools and collateral; funding fees to balance long and short positions; price impact; and liquidity provision.^[13]

On August 3, 2023, the V2 beta went live on Arbitrum and Avalanche mainnet. It introduced isolated GM pools, multiple collateral types, incentives for balancing long and short positions, and low-fee swaps.^[14] On October 2, 2023, GMX announced that V2 was using Chainlink Data Streams on Arbitrum.^[15]

Products

GMX Express launched with Gelato Relay in 2025. It relayed transactions during congestion, supported gas payments in custom tokens, and upgraded One-Click Trading to reduce wallet interruptions.^[23] Gelato Relay ended on September 1, 2026. GMX SDK release 1.8.2 introduced GMX Relay helpers, and SDK 2.0 removed Gelato support and directed integrations to GMX Relay or GMX API methods.^[31]

On October 6, 2026, GMX launched the Arbitrum GLV USDG-USDG Dollar Vault. It accepts Paxos-issued USDG and allocates liquidity across BTC, ETH, and SOL perpetual markets, automatically rebalancing as it earns fees. Vault providers retain exposure to trader profit and loss.^[24] By October 21, USDG-backed Arbitrum GM markets had expanded to BTC, ETH, SOL, NEAR, XRP, ZEC, and HYPE. GLV USDG-USDG holds liquidity across all seven markets.^[31][32]

Tokenomics

GMX

The GMX token is a utility and governance token. In October 2024, the protocol changed the use of the GMX staker fee share from ETH and AVAX distributions to GMX buybacks: 30% of V1 fees and 27% of V2 fees funded buybacks. The V1 GLP provider allocation of 70% and the V2 GM liquidity-provider allocation of 63% were unchanged by the revision; V2 also allocated 10% of fees to the treasury.^[25]

Staking

Historically, stakers could receive escrowed GMX, multiplier points, and ETH or AVAX rewards.^[2]

Escrowed GMX tokens, also known as esGMX tokens, could be staked or vested. When a token holder chose to vest their tokens, they were converted back into GMX tokens over a 12-month period. This conversion served as a form of locked staking, preventing immediate sale and helping mitigate inflation.^[5]

Multiplier points historically enhanced yield and rewarded longer-term platform use. They were later sunset, and are not an active annual 100% reward. Under the earlier mechanics, multiplier points were rewarded to staked GMX holders and holders received fees equivalent to staked GMX, as with staked esGMX. Upon unstaking GMX tokens, multiplier points held were burned in proportion to the unstaked amount and total multiplier points earned.^[5][4]

In October 2024, the GMX staker fee share changed from ETH or AVAX distributions to GMX buybacks: 30% of V1 fees and 27% of V2 fees funded buybacks. The fee allocations for V1 GLP and V2 GM liquidity providers were not changed by this revision.^[25] Since March 4, 2026, staking rewards have accumulated in the Treasury rather than being distributed directly. The GMX DAO governance update said distribution was planned when GMX reached $90, according to a governance-defined release schedule.^[26]

Staking power determines a staker’s proportional share of accumulated Treasury rewards. It accrues every second as the staked GMX and esGMX balance multiplied by elapsed time. If a staker’s balance falls below 80% of its tracked peak balance, accumulated staking power resets.^[41]

Token Distribution

The forecasted maximum supply of GMX is 13.25 million. The circulating supply is calculated from minted supply excluding tokens held in vesting, bonding, and treasury contracts; it varies with vesting.^[42]

The documented allocation categories total the forecasted maximum supply of 13.25 million GMX:^[42]

• 6 million GMX from the XVIX and Gambit migration.
• 2 million GMX paired with ETH for liquidity on Uniswap.
• 2 million GMX reserved for vesting from Escrowed GMX rewards.
• 2 million GMX allocated to the treasury.
• 1 million GMX reserved for marketing, partnerships, and community developers.
• 250,000 GMX distributed to contributors linearly over 2 years.

GLP

GLP, or the Global Liquidity Protocol, is the legacy V1 liquidity token and an index of assets used in the V1 trading pool. GLP tokens could be created using assets from the index, such as BTC or ETH, and redeemed for those assets by burning the tokens. GLP holders provided liquidity for traders to access leverage. V2 uses GM (GMX Market) pools and GLV liquidity vaults instead.^[3][21]

GLP could be generated and redeemed using any of the index assets. Its minting and redemption price was determined by dividing the total value of assets in the index, incorporating profits and losses of open positions, by GLP supply.^[10]

Historically, GLP holders on the Arbitrum platform were eligible to receive Escrowed GMX rewards and a proportional distribution (70%) of platform fees denominated in ETH. GLP holders on the Avalanche network received Escrowed GMX rewards and a 70% distribution of platform fees expressed in AVAX. The fees distributed were determined after deducting referral rewards and keeper network costs, normally estimated at around 1% of total fees.^[10]

Following the July 2025 V1 Arbitrum incident, the Arbitrum V1 GLP deployment was disabled. Affected users received a distribution in GLV tokens.^[20][21]

Governance

Governance Proposals

GMLabs-001

The GMLabs-001 forum thread described a restructuring centered on centralized resource deployment, tighter cost control, and integrating GMX Solana as one unified protocol. It outlined a proposed $10 million treasury-funded GMX market-making fund. Under the proposed rule, the fund would support buybacks when GMX circulating market capitalization is below combined protocol open interest, and liquidity provision when capitalization is at or above open interest. A September 22, 2026 forum post reported that a phase-one proposal for 3,000,000 USDC in funding had been submitted to Tally.^[30]

GMLabs-003

GMLabs-003, posted October 21, 2026, proposed directing remaining Solana-side protocol revenue after GT buybacks to GMX buybacks and adding acquired GMX to the staking-rewards pool. It also proposed a 180-day request-to-withdrawal delay for GMX and esGMX staking positions on Arbitrum and Avalanche, with pending requests cancellable. The forum listed October 28, 2026 as a target effective date subject to implementation readiness. As of October 29, 2026, implementation status was pending confirmation. The proposal stated that no on-chain staking rewards were being distributed when it was posted; the March 2026 governance update described the $90 distribution threshold and redirection of rewards to the Treasury.^[33][26]

GMLabs-004

GMLabs-004, posted October 29, 2026, proposed placing a portion of GMX holdings from the Arbitrum POL multisig into Falcon Finance for treasury management, conditional on confirmation of terms and preparation.^[34]

GMX x Avalanche

GMX went live on Avalanche at the beginning of 2022. Through the integration of GMX and Avalanche, users have the ability to trade AVAX, BTC, and ETH with leverage of up to 30x, and have the assurance of lower-risk liquidation that can be verified directly from their Metamask Wallet.^[7]

From January 2022 to March 2022, 50,000 esGMX tokens were distributed monthly to GLP holders on Avalanche as an incentive for liquidity. From April 2022 to December 2022, this amount was updated to 25,000 esGMX tokens per month.^[7]

Team

On May 8, 2026, GMX Labs appointed Q as its first CEO following a structured search with 20 candidates. GMX Labs supports GMX development and operations and is distinct from the GMX DAO and the protocol. The announcement described Q as a long-standing community member, governance delegate, GMX tokenholder, and architect of GMTrade.xyz, the community-built GMX deployment on Solana.^[27]