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Episode notes

On this episode of Talking Tokens, host Jacquelyn Melinek sits down with Eddie Zhang, President of dYdX. Eddie shares his journey from product building at Meta (Facebook) and founding a Y Combinator-backed social startup to leading at dYdX, one of the world’s largest decentralized perpetuals exchanges. They break down how dYdX integrates social trading and community tools, the launch of Telegram trading bots, and an ambitious roadmap that brings real-world assets and new on-chain products to DeFi. Eddie discusses how smaller group chats drive trust and engagement, why UI/UX is critical for retail growth, and dYdX’s approach to competing in a crowded derivatives market. The episode explores the unique challenges and opportunities for consumer crypto adoption, product defenseability, and how dYdX is positioning to scale with both institutional market makers and everyday traders.

Sponsored by Fireblocks, the secure engine behind leading tokenized asset infrastructure. Learn more at fireblocks.com.

⏱️ Timestamps

(00:00) - Intro

(00:34) - Eddie’s background: Facebook, startups, and the path to crypto

(02:07) - From social apps to decentralized trading

(03:02) - Integrating social trading into Telegram & dYdX

(04:06) - Building trust through small group trading communities

(05:52) - How crypto trading behavior evolved since 2021

(07:39) - The rise of real-world assets and pre-IPO markets

(09:14) - Tokenized stocks and new listing mechanics

(10:31) - dYdX’s next phase: infrastructure, speed & order gateways

(12:13) - Network effects, defense strategies & user retention