Paradex
Paradex is a perpetuals, dated-options and spot exchange running on its own Starknet-based appchain, with a unified margin account across 90+ markets. Orders placed through the web interface are classed as Retail and pay zero trading fees; API (Pro) orders pay a taker fee.
Cost: Retail orders (web UI or interactive API token) pay 0% maker and 0% taker on perps, spot and options. Pro (API) orders pay a 0.045% base taker fee falling to 0.035% with 14-day volume, and a flat 0.003% maker fee from July 3, 2026. A $1,000 buy-and-sell costs about $0.00 in Paradex fees.
Sign-up perk: 5% XP bonus on trading activity.
Checked 2026-10-16 · sources below- Round trip fee
- 0% buy + sell, platform fee
- $1,000 buy + sell
- $0.00 before network + pool fees
- US availability
- Not available UK: unverified · EU: unverified
- Custody
- non-custodial
- KYC
- none
- Platforms
- web
- Launched
- —
Users paid Paradex about $54K in fees in the 30 days to 2026-10-17 (DefiLlama) — a rough measure of how much it is actually used.
Best for: Non-US traders who place orders manually through a web UI and want zero-fee perps plus options from one margin account.
Paradex fees
| Fee | Type | Rate | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail taker/maker fee (perps, spot, options) | platform | 0% | Buy and sell | Applies to orders submitted via the web interface or an interactive JWT; Retail orders get a 300ms speed bump and lower rate limits. |
| Pro maker fee (perps & spot) | platform | 0.003% | Buy and sell | Flat 0.3 bps on trade notional, effective July 3 (12:00 SGT). |
| Pro options fee | platform | 0.01% | Buy and sell | 0.01% maker and taker, capped at 12.5% of the option price. |
| Settlement fee on delisting | protocol | 0.015% | Buy and sell | Spot and perps; 0.0075% for dated options. |
Fee tiers
| Tier | Rate | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 0% | Orders via web UI or interactive API token |
| Pro 0 | 0.045% | API orders, default (taker) |
| Pro 1 | 0.042% | 14D volume >= $1M (taker) |
| Pro 2 | 0.039% | 14D volume >= $5M (taker) |
| Pro 3 | 0.037% | 14D volume >= $10M (taker) |
| Pro 4 | 0.035% | 14D volume >= $25M (taker) |
Perps: taker 0%, maker 0% — Retail rate. Pro taker 0.045% base (min 0.0175% after discounts); Pro maker 0.003%. Pro taker discounts: up to 30% for $DIME staking, 40% for paying fees in $DIME, 30% FastFills discount when matching Retail orders.
Platform fees only. On-chain network/priority fees, pool (LP) fees and price impact are extra and vary by trade.
Is Paradex legit?
Runs on the Paradex Chain, an appchain built on the Starknet stack that posts zero-knowledge proofs of state changes to L1. Position, order and PnL data are encrypted and hidden from the public.
Backers: Incubated by Paradigm; Paradigm shareholders and preferred-equity investors hold about 23% of DIME supply (round size undisclosed).
Incidents on record
- 2026-01-19: Database migration glitch priced BTC at $0, forced chain rollback. After database maintenance, BTC briefly showed a $0 price, triggering liquidations of long positions. Paradex rolled chain state back to block 1,604,710 and came back online at 12:10 UTC after about eight hours of downtime. It did not disclose how many traders were affected. Source
Where Paradex is available
| Region | Status |
|---|---|
| United States | Not available |
| United Kingdom | Unverified |
| European Union | Unverified |
Paradex's Restricted Persons page lists the United States (and US territories), Canada, Crimea/Donetsk/Luhansk/Sevastopol, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and excludes any 'U.S. person' or 'Canadian person'. The UK and EU are not named on the list; Paradex does not state they are supported. (source)
We report what the venue's own terms say. Don't use a VPN to get around restrictions; venues can freeze accounts that do.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Retail orders pay 0% maker and 0% taker on perps, spot and options.
- Positions, entries, PnL and liquidation levels are hidden from the public.
- One unified margin account covers perps, dated options and spot across 90+ markets.
- Pro taker fees fall from 0.045% to 0.035% with volume, with further $DIME discounts.
Cons
- US persons, Canadian persons and US territories are restricted.
- Retail orders carry a 300ms speed bump and are capped at 1,000 orders per 24 hours.
- A January 19, 2026 pricing glitch liquidated positions and forced a chain rollback with about eight hours of downtime.
- The referral program pays XP points rather than a share of fees.
Features
perpsoptionsspotzero-fee retail tradingprivacyunified marginvaultsapipoints
Alternatives to Paradex
Lighter
Non-US, non-UK retail perps traders who want zero trading fees and can accept slower taker execution than paid accounts.
0%Round trip
Ostium
Traders who want onchain leveraged exposure to stocks, forex, commodities and indices from a self-custodied wallet, outside the US.
0.06%Round trip
Aster
Non-US, non-UK traders who want zero maker fees on order-book perps, very high leverage modes, or privacy-shielded orders.
0.08%Round trip
Pacifica
Solana perp traders who want a published volume ladder, 50x leverage on majors and exposure to RWA and pre-IPO markets, and who are outside the United States.
0.08%Round trip
Head to head
Where Paradex ranks
- #2 in Lowest-fee perp DEXesof 10
- #7 in Best perp DEXes for beginnersof 10
Paradex FAQ
Is Paradex legit?
Paradex is a live perps, options and spot exchange on its own Starknet-based appchain. On January 19, 2026 a database migration error priced BTC at $0, triggering liquidations; Paradex rolled the chain back and was offline about eight hours. It restricts US and Canadian persons.
Does Paradex charge trading fees?
Orders placed through the web interface are Retail orders and pay 0% maker and 0% taker. API (Pro) orders pay a 0.045% base taker fee, falling to 0.035% at $25M 14-day volume, and a 0.003% maker fee.
Can US users trade on Paradex?
No. Paradex's Restricted Persons page lists the United States, its territories and Canada, and excludes any U.S. person or Canadian person from its products and services.
What is the difference between Retail and Pro orders on Paradex?
Retail orders come from the web UI or an interactive API token, pay zero fees and get a 300ms speed bump and lower rate limits. Pro orders are standard API orders with high rate limits that pay taker fees.
Sources
Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.
- Paradex Docs - Trading Fees — checked 2026-10-16
- Paradex Docs - Retail and Pro Orders — checked 2026-10-16
- Paradex Docs - Home — checked 2026-10-16
- Paradex Docs - Trading on Paradex — checked 2026-10-16
- Paradex Docs - Affiliate & Referrals — checked 2026-10-16
- Paradex Docs - Starknet First Appchain — checked 2026-10-16
- Paradex - Restricted Persons — checked 2026-10-16
- The Block - Paradex's 'free bitcoin' pricing glitch triggers mass liquidations, forces rollback — checked 2026-10-16
- FalconX: Paradex (DIME) overview — checked 2026-10-16