GMX review: fees, price impact and risks

What GMX is

GMX V1 used one shared pool (GLP) as the counterparty to all trades. GMX V2 moved to isolated per-market pools called GM pools. The GMX market API lists August 8, 2023, as the listing date of the first V2 markets, including BTC/USD.

That change reduced shared pool exposure and gave LPs more control over their market exposure. The GMX docs list active markets on Arbitrum, Avalanche and MegaETH.

V2 also introduced synthetic markets. Each market pairs a long token, a short token (usually USDC), and a Chainlink price feed as the index. For example, the ETH/USD market uses WETH as long collateral and USDC as short.

Traders execute through a pool instead of an order book. GMX then applies net price impact from the market's balance and configured caps.

Security and audits

The GMX security page names five audit firms for GMX Synthetics (V2): Guardian Audits, ABDK, Certora, Dedaub and Sherlock. Guardian is the primary auditor. It did 8 engagements between October 2022 and September 2023. Certora audited GMX Synthetics in November 2023, and Sherlock audited later updates. The reports are in the gmx-synthetics audits folder.

GMX V1 had a major exploit. On July 9, 2025, a user disclosed a live vulnerability in the V1 deployment on Arbitrum. About $42 million of the about $46 million in Arbitrum GLP was withdrawn, per the GMX governance post.

Most of the funds came back to the DAO, and GMX set a plan to repay GLP holders. V1 trading is disabled. GMX V2 and the Avalanche deployment were not affected. Each chain runs independently, so an issue on one chain does not stop the others.

The Arbitrum DeFi ecosystem provides composability that isolated chains cannot match. GMX positions and LP tokens plug into lending protocols, yield tools, and hedging tools that treat GMX assets as native collateral.

Fees in detail

GMX charges either 4 bps or 6 bps per position open or close. The rate depends on whether the trade improves or worsens the long/short OI balance in the relevant GM pool. A trade that reduces imbalance costs 4 bps. A trade that adds to imbalance costs 6 bps.

A $10,000 BTC position closed at break-even costs $8-$12 in base fees. Hyperliquid costs $9 at its base taker rate, and dYdX costs $10. These venues use different fee models, so compare the full selected-side cost.

Borrow fees compound for multi-day positions. They accrue continuously, per second, based on pool use, and only the larger side of the market pays them. When a popular pair is heavily one-sided, borrow fees can add several bps per day.

Funding also accrues continuously and settles when a transaction touches the position, per the fee docs. Check carry costs on our funding rates tracker before holding a GMX position overnight.

GM pool APYs have ranged from 10-40% depending on volume and volatility. The referral code PRO gives referred traders a 10% fee discount and earns referrers esGMX token rewards, which vest over 12 months.

See the full cost comparison at our cost comparison tool.

Volume and market position

PerpFinder tracks GMX through DefiLlama's GMX V2 perps page. Use the live page for current TVL and volume because both values change with market activity.

GMX's market share has declined since Hyperliquid's rise in 2024-2025. GMX v2 has been copied by multiple protocols — including GMTrade on Solana — making it more influential than its own volume figures show.

The protocol sends 63% of fee revenue to GM pool LPs and 27% to GMX buybacks for stakers. The treasury gets 10%. The GMX token page says that staking rewards are suspended. Bought-back GMX stays in the treasury until GMX reaches $90.

Trading experience

The interface at app.gmx.io shows price charts, position panels, and liquidity metrics. Orders fill at quoted oracle prices, with confirmation taking a few seconds on Arbitrum. That is slower than Hyperliquid's sub-second speed but fast enough for most strategies.

The GM pool page shows live APY estimates per market. Depositing into the ETH/USD GM pool gives the LP WETH and USDC yield, plus funding and liquidation fee income. The page tracks current use rates, open interest, and borrow fee rates per market.

GMX supports up to 100x, but the limit is market-specific. Some TradFi markets also change leverage by trading session. No account setup is required.

GMX's 4-vs-6 bps trigger logic, worked through

GMX gets covered everywhere — CoinGecko market data, CoinDesk's V2 launch story, The Block's perp DEX rankings — yet four practical details stay missing:

1. Live GMX 24h volume from DefiLlama with 7-day delta on our protocol page
2. Cost model: GMX 4 bps vs 6 bps trigger logic with a $10,000 worked example, compared against Hyperliquid and dYdX at our cost comparison tool
3. The five audit firms on the GMX security page, and the July 2025 exploit of the retired V1 pool
4. Live GM pool APY and borrow fee estimates alongside GMX funding rates on our funding rates tracker

Who GMX is for

DeFi composability users: GMX plugs more deeply into the Arbitrum DeFi stack than any rival. If you want to use your LP position as loan collateral or run a yield optimizer on top of a GM pool, that infrastructure exists.

Security-conscious traders: five audit firms have reviewed GMX V2. The July 2025 exploit hit V1, not V2, but it shows that audited code can still fail.

High-frequency traders: GMX's 4-6 bps per-trade fee is not competitive with Hyperliquid (4.5 bps total taker, zero gas). GMX suits traders holding for hours or days, not scalpers doing dozens of round-trips.

LP yield seekers: GM pools are one of the most open LP structures in DeFi. Every fee, use rate, and directional exposure is visible on-chain in real time.