DYDX токены на 26 миллионов долларов: как частные инвесторы остались без доступа к своим активам Headline: DYDX Tokens Worth $26 Million: How Retail Investors Lost Access to Their Assets

Around 41.7 million DYDX tokens (approximately $26.2 million at the current exchange rate) in the ERC-20 format have been locked in the Ethereum network following the suspension of the cross-chain bridge and the withdrawal of liquidity from the pools.

The issue traces back to November 2024, when developers first proposed discontinuing support for the blockchain of the second most capitalized cryptocurrency. The essence of this proposal was to cease the operation of the wethDYDX Smart Contract (Bridge) on the dYdX Chain, which served as a bridge for the named asset.

By December, the initiative was approved, postponing the deactivation of the protocol by six months. In June 2025, a final vote took place, with the majority of validators supporting the decision.

However, only 434 accounts participated in the last voting round, and the post about the proposal on the forum received just over 500 views.

In essence, users had a six-month window to transfer their assets, but many retail investors often overlook community initiatives. Moreover, the proposal to disconnect from Ethereum was not widely publicized.

According to on-chain data and calculations by a blogger, the amount of funds «locked» in Ethereum reached 4.2% of the total coin supply. Additionally, 45,000 holders of ethDYDX have positive balances, with about 11,000 holding over $100 and 2,500 holding more than $1,000.

«It’s almost impossible to sell tokens through Uniswap: there’s no liquidity, and the price is tens of times lower than the market ($0.01 versus $0.7). Essentially, the tokens on Ethereum have become ‘worthless.’ [Retail] investors were not adequately informed,» a user stated in a message to the editorial office.

Funds and trading platforms were contacted directly, allowing them to migrate in time, added the spokesperson. This is evidenced by the large sums that passed through the bridge during the migration period.

Influencer Sobolev considers the situation a «deliberate scam.» He claimed the team simply froze retail funds to improve tokenomics, referencing one part of the original proposal, which states:

«Reducing the circulating supply of undispersed ethDYDX tokens can help balance DYDX sales and alleviate inflationary pressure.»

Sobolev also described the voting on platform proposals as a «farce,» since only the largest validators participate. The weight of retail investors can be disregarded due to the small number of coins they hold, thus their opinion is often overlooked.

The blogger attempted to reach out to the dYdX team, including the CEO, COO, and other members. However, his messages went unanswered.

Affected users ultimately brought the issue to public discussion.

«Many community members, including myself, still hold DYDX tokens in ERC-20 format on Ethereum. Since the official bridge closure, there’s currently no fair or simple way to migrate these tokens to the dYdX blockchain,» wrote the post’s author under the nickname werty.

Several approaches have been suggested as solutions:

Comments on the initiative are currently being collected. The forum post has already garnered three times more views than the original proposal.

Many investors have confirmed the issue and have requested that the team provide a way to withdraw tokens.

«I understand that the decision to close the bridge was made based on the leadership’s proposal and was implemented automatically, but many users, including myself, can no longer access their coins. This has created a very challenging situation for us,» one discussion participant stated.

Based on the comments, most individuals were not aware of the proposal that was passed and missed the opportunity to transfer their coins within the specified time frame. Some complained about the reluctance to convert coins in pools with low liquidity.

A specialized Telegram channel has also been created for affected DYDX holders. Updates and news about the situation are being posted there. According to one of the recent messages, on September 17, the trading platform’s team will host a call regarding the stuck coins.

It’s worth noting that in March, the dYdX community voted to distribute $1.5 million in DYDX from the treasury.

In the same month, the exchange launched a native token buyback program, directing 25% of monthly commission revenues towards it.