# Bitstamp API vs dYdX

> dYdX scores 69.5 (B) to Bitstamp's 50.4 (D) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-dydx
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-dydx.md (~5,050 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-04

dYdX scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Bitstamp API's 50.4 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do exchange market data.

- Bitstamp API: grade D, 50.4/100, rank #942 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bitstamp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitstamp.json
- dYdX: grade B, 69.5/100, rank #222 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/dydx.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/dydx.json
- Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crypto-exchanges/index.md
- All 210 exchanges comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-exchanges/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Bitstamp API (D)

Good for: An agent that needs a long-running regulated spot venue in the EU, UK and US with a sandbox and per-endpoint key permissions, and can do its own signing.

Watch for: No official MCP server, SDK, llms.txt or OpenAPI file; the registry's Bitstamp servers are third parties proxying public market data

### dYdX (B)

Good for: An agent trading perpetuals from its own Cosmos wallet or through a permissioned key on an owner's account, outside the US, Canada and UK.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 63
- Schema & documentation, 58 against 51
- Agent ergonomics, 66 against 58
- Security & auth, 78 against 60
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 28

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: No official MCP server; the one registry entry is a third party's analytics server


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: dYdX +55

- Bitstamp API (28): Read as a closed service. The last dated API change is 28 August 2026, 67 days before the check (20). Only one dated entry in the last 90 days, after 1 July and 12 June (0). No public repository or issue tracker, support pages did not load and support.bitstamp.net did not resolve; a changelog exists (8 of 25). No official SDKs and no MCP registry presence of Bitstamp's own (0). No package to assess (0). 20 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 28.
- dYdX (83): Read on the clients and the chain. v4-clients was pushed on 29 October 2026 and protocol v9.8.0 shipped on 12 October (30). Protocol v9.7 on 11 September, v9.8.0 on 12 October, v4-client-js tags 3.5.0 and 3.6.0, three or more in 90 days (20). A Discord, a help centre and 36 open issues on v4-clients whose replies couldn't be read (12 of 25). Official SDKs current, the TypeScript client at 3.6.0 and the Python client at 1.1.6 from February 2026 (12 of 15). CI workflows for lint, test, publish and audit, with trusted publishing and provenance on npm (9 of 10). Total 83.

### Payments & pricing: dYdX +40

- Bitstamp API (20): No machine payment protocol (0). The fee schedule page loaded empty, the API's fee endpoints need a key, and no rate could be read, so fees are scored as not published (0, unchecked). The API is free, public endpoints need no key and the sandbox needs no money (20). A person must sign up in a browser with identity checks and mint the key (0). 0 + 0 + 20 + 0 = 20.
- dYdX (60): No machine payment protocol (0). Fees public per tier without login (20). Testnet with a faucet and no card anywhere (20). No signup; an agent with a funded wallet trades, subject to the geographic terms (20). Total 60.

### Reliability: dYdX +20

- Bitstamp API (63): Read with the hosted lines on the HTTP API v2 at www.bitstamp.net/api/v2/. status.bitstamp.net is a Statuspage site with component history (20). Its feed for 5 August to 3 November 2026 has 17 entries, among them withdrawals failing on 14 networks for about 3 hours on 21 August, database maintenance with login failures and intermittent trading interruptions for about 1 hour 44 minutes on 23 September, a 39-minute halt of all markets on 5 August, and delistings and single-asset suspensions. One major (10). Rate limits with numbers, 400 a second and 10,000 per 10 minutes (15). Limit errors are named (400.002, 400.067, 400.068) but there is no Retry-After or backoff guidance, duplicate client order ids are allowed, and the only retry guidance is to check the order after a 500.016 timeout (8 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 63.
- dYdX (83): Read with the hosted lines on the indexer API and the chain endpoints the clients submit to. status.dydx.trade is an Atlassian Statuspage with Frontends, dYdX Chain, Indexer, Order Gateway and Client Libraries components and an RSS history (20). From 1 August to 3 November 2026 the feed has eight items, seven scheduled maintenance windows of 29 minutes to 2 hours (indexer on 9 September, 8 and 15 October, protocol v9.7 on 11 September and v9.8.0 on 12 October, WebSocket compression on 26 and 28 October) and one degraded instant-deposit path through an onboarding partner from 24 to 29 September, outside the trading API. Clean or trivial (30). Rate limits documented with numbers for the indexer, the block limits and the public nodes (15). No 429 shape or Retry-After for the indexer; short-term orders expire by `goodTilBlock` and client IDs let an agent find an order after a timeout (8 of 15). No SLA (0). Mainnet generally available; the Order Entry Gateway is marked testnet-only (10). 20 + 30 + 15 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 83.

### Security & auth: dYdX +18

- Bitstamp API (60): Revocable HMAC-SHA256 keys with per-endpoint permissions, an IP allow-list, single-use nonces, a timestamp window, sub-account scoping and a one-call kill switch for every key; no key expiry found (24 of 30). Permissions are chosen per endpoint and withdrawals can need Travel Rule address verification, but whether a withdrawal address allow-list exists sits in the unread account settings and no confirmation step is documented for API withdrawals (14 of 20). The API returns exchange data, not third-party text (10). No per-key audit log found; the account's transaction history is the record (4 of 15). security.txt names HackerOne's Robinhood programme but expired on 12 July 2026; no certification page was readable (8 of 20). 24 + 14 + 10 + 4 + 8 = 60.
- dYdX (78): Orders are signed by the account key or by a permissioned key the owner adds as an authenticator, limited by message type, subaccount and market with AllOf or AnyOf, and revoked by `remove_authenticator`; no shared secret and nothing in a URL (28 of 30). A key can be confined to placing and cancelling orders on one subaccount with withdrawals and transfers excluded, though not to a position or order size, and the interface's default API wallet trades all cross-margin pairs (16 of 20). The API returns no untrusted content (10). Every action is a chain transaction and the indexer lists fills, orders and transfers per subaccount, and authenticators can be listed; no per-key log (10 of 15). A Cantina bug bounty up to $1,000,000 sponsored by dYdX Trading Inc. over the protocol, indexer, web client and SDKs, an Informal Systems audit; no security.txt and no certification (14 of 20). Total 78.

### Agent ergonomics: dYdX +8

- Bitstamp API (58): Graded on the REST API. Order book grouping and transaction time windows size responses, but there is no field selection and no MCP surface (15 of 25). Offset, limit, since and sort on transaction history, `until_id` windows on order-data replay (14 of 20). `response_code` and `response_explanation` name the failure, such as 400.009 insufficient balance, 403.004 trading blocked and 500.025 insufficient liquidity (16 of 20). No idempotency, since `client_order_id` duplicates are allowed since November 2023 and the docs say only to check the order id after a timeout; the kill switch limits damage (8 of 20). Few required parameters, but no official SDK in any language (5 of 15). 15 + 14 + 16 + 8 + 5 = 58.
- dYdX (66): An API, read for response sizing. `limit` on list endpoints, candles by resolution, sparklines by period; the order book comes whole (16 of 25). `limit`, `page` on fills, transfers and funding, and height or time cursors (16 of 20). Indexer errors are a status and a sentence; order rejections come back from the chain as transaction results the clients surface (8 of 20). Unique 32-bit client IDs, `goodTilBlock` expiry on short-term orders, cancel by order ID; no MCP annotations apply (14 of 20). Few required fields with market parameters fetched for unit conversion, and official clients in TypeScript, Python and Rust (12 of 15). Total 66.

### Schema & documentation: dYdX +7

- Bitstamp API (51): No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found on the API page or elsewhere (0). No llms.txt or Markdown docs (0). The single documentation page describes each endpoint's purpose and parameters, with notes such as the 10-second cache on open orders and the Travel Rule fields, but not when to use one endpoint over another (14 of 20). Parameters are typed with enumerations (margin mode CROSS or ISOLATED, margin multiplier 1 to 25, order types) and required fields marked (11 of 15). Signing examples in Python, Java and C++, and error families with numbered codes and explanations (13 of 15). Version v2 in the path and header, a dated changelog from 7 April 2023 to 28 August 2026, and a 410.001 code for deprecated endpoints, with no stated notice period (13 of 15). 0 + 0 + 14 + 11 + 13 + 13 = 51.
- dYdX (58): No OpenAPI file found for the indexer; the docs publish a types reference of about 200 pages (OrderSide, TimeInForce, OrderStatus and the rest) and the chain's protobuf messages are in the clients (8 of 25). llms.txt and Markdown docs (10). Endpoint pages describe each call and the guides say when to use short-term against long-term orders and the indexer against the node, but descriptions are short (12 of 20). Enums and types on every field in the reference, with pagination and cursor parameters typed (11 of 15). Examples in Python, TypeScript and Rust for each step; errors are described by HTTP status (400 malformed, 404 not found) with no code list (9 of 15). A /v4 path, protocol releases dated on the status page, deprecated rate-limit fields marked, but no API changelog (8 of 15). Total 58.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Bitstamp API | dYdX | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 63 | 83 | dYdX +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 51 | 58 | dYdX +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 66 | dYdX +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 78 | dYdX +18 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 60 | dYdX +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 28 | 83 | dYdX +55 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 53 | 50 | Bitstamp API +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **50.4 · D** | **69.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Bitstamp API | dYdX |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Bitstamp Ltd. | dYdX Trading Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under Bitstamp's terms of use, which our reader couldn't load | The clients are AGPL-3.0 with a use condition tied to the v4 Terms of Use; the chain software (dydxprotocol/v4-chain) carries a custom licence GitHub cannot classify. The hosted indexer at indexer.dydx.trade and the front end are run by third parties, not dYdX Trading Inc. |
| Tools exposed | none | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-08-28 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-03-12 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2025-06-06 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | none | 119 stars, 86k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Bitstamp API.** Bitstamp documents its v2 API on one static page with numeric rate limits, per-endpoint key permissions, an IP allow-list, a kill switch and a sandbox. There is no official MCP server, duplicate client order ids are allowed, and the fee schedule, terms, privacy policy and country list render by script and could not be read.

**dYdX.** dYdX gives an agent keyless indexer reads, permissioned keys limited by message type, subaccount and market, a Statuspage with a clean 90 days, published fees and a testnet with a faucet. There is no official MCP server or OpenAPI file, orders are chain transactions signed by the clients, and no one entity operates the hosted endpoints.

## Before you call either

### Bitstamp API

1. Mint a key with only the endpoint permissions the task needs and an IP allow-list; keep `revoke_all_api_keys` in reach as a kill switch
2. Treat `client_order_id` as a label, not a guard. On a timeout (500.016) fetch the order by client id before resending, because duplicates are accepted
3. Use a fresh 36-character nonce and a timestamp within 150 seconds of server time on every request, or expect API0004 and API0017
4. Stay under 400 requests a second and 10,000 per 10 minutes; 400.002 and 400.067 mean back off, and open-orders answers are cached for 10 seconds
5. Start on sandbox.bitstamp.net with the same paths, and read the fee schedule in a browser before quoting costs, since it is unreadable to a plain fetch

### dYdX

1. Ask the account owner for an authenticator limited to `/dydxprotocol.clob.MsgPlaceOrder` and `MsgCancelOrder` on one subaccount, and keep its private key out of prompts
2. Set a unique 32-bit `clientId` on every order and look it up on `/v4/orders` after a timeout; short-term orders expire with `goodTilBlock` (at most 20 blocks ahead)
3. Stay under 2 stateful orders a block and 20 per 100 blocks; failed placements count, so use short-term orders for active trading
4. Enable permessage-deflate on the indexer WebSocket; since 26 October 2026 connections without compression may be refused with 426
5. Check `/v4/geo` and the compliance screen before trading for a person, since the terms exclude the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Bitstamp API or dYdX?

dYdX scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Bitstamp API's 50.4 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Bitstamp API and dYdX need an API key?

Bitstamp API needs an API key. dYdX takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Bitstamp API and dYdX without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Bitstamp API. No hosted endpoint is listed for dYdX.

### Are Bitstamp API and dYdX open source?

No open-source release is listed for Bitstamp API. dYdX is open source (The clients are AGPL-3.0 with a use condition tied to the v4 Terms of Use; the chain software (dydxprotocol/v4-chain) carries a custom licence GitHub cannot classify. The hosted indexer at indexer.dydx.trade and the front end are run by third parties, not dYdX Trading Inc.).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-dydx.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-dydx.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "bitstamp", "b": "dydx"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare bitstamp dydx`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitstamp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/dydx.json

## Other comparisons with Bitstamp API or dYdX

- [Bitfinex API vs Bitstamp API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bitstamp.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-dydx.md)
- [Bitget vs Bitstamp API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-bitstamp.md)
- [Bitget vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-dydx.md)
- [Bithumb Open API vs Bitstamp API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-bitstamp.md)
- [Bithumb Open API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-dydx.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Bybit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-bybit.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Coinbase Advanced Trade API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-coinbase-advanced-trade.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-coinbase-mcp.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Crypto.com Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-crypto-com-exchange.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-deribit.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Gemini Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-gemini-exchange.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-htx.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-mexc.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-okx.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-upbit.md)
- [Bybit vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-dydx.md)
- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-dydx.md)
- [dYdX vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-uniswap.md)
- [dYdX vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-upbit.md)
- [Binance API vs Bitstamp API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-bitstamp.md)
- [Binance API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-dydx.md)
- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-dydx.md)
- [Deribit vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-dydx.md)
- [dYdX vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-gate-io.md)
- [dYdX vs Gemini Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-gemini-exchange.md)
- [dYdX vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-htx.md)
- [dYdX vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [dYdX vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-kraken.md)
- [dYdX vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-kucoin.md)
- [dYdX vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-mexc.md)
- [dYdX vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-okx.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-dydx.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp