GMX Launching on Solana with the Help of Chainlink Data Streams

Perpetual exchange GMX has announced the launch of GMX-Solana, which has integrated Chainlink Data Streams as its official data oracle solution. GMX-Solana extends GMX onto the Solana blockchain, supporting hundreds of assets and enabling efficient, self-custody trading without the need for intermediaries.

GMX, one of the oldest decentralized perpetual exchanges, was launched in September 2021 and has since gained significant traction. It currently ranks as a top-7 perpetual decentralized exchange by trading volume and a top-3 by Total Value Locked (TVL). The exchange generates over $4 billion in monthly trading volume, boasts a TVL of around $500 million, and has approximately 6,600 weekly users.

The launch is notable because GMX is utilizing Chainlink Data Streams, which provide high-frequency market data using Chainlink’s infrastructure. Historically, Chainlink has lagged behind competitors like Pyth in providing high-frequency pricing data, resulting in a considerable loss of market share. On Solana, for instance, Chainlink holds a market share of just 15.5%, whereas Pyth dominates with over 84%.

Data Streams product aims to address this issue and make Chainlink more competitive in the high-frequency data market.

According to the DAO governance proposal, the Solana implementation took about seven months to develop. The core code of the exchange will be open-sourced following audits and prior to launch. Besides Solana, the project is also operating on Arbitrum and Avalanche. 

GMX-Solana’s fee distribution will allocate 60% for buyback of $GMX and reserve for GMSOL Points, 30% for LPs as real yield, and 10% reserved for technology. Over the past 30 days, the exchange has generated approximately $4.3 million in fees, and the addition of the Solana chain is expected to further increase this revenue.

Additionally, as part of the partnership, 1.2% of the total protocol fees generated by GMX-Solana will be paid to Chainlink service providers for using Chainlink Data Streams.

The announcement had a positive impact on the $GMX token, which rose by around 10%. The project’s market capitalization is currently around $240 million, although the token price has generally declined this year.

The perpetual decentralized exchange space has become quite crowded, leading to significant competition between players. As a result, GMX has been losing market share, contributing to the token’s declining value. 

However, the addition of Solana could help GMX tap into Solana’s large community of traders and strengthen its position in the trading landscape. Whether this potential will be realized remains to be seen. We will continue to Observe.