# Crypto.com Exchange API vs dYdX

> dYdX scores 69.5 (B) to Crypto.com Exchange's 46.8 (D) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-dydx
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-dydx.md (~5,500 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 Crypto.com Exchange API's 46.8 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Crypto.com Exchange API leads on transparency & trust. Both do exchange market data.

- Crypto.com Exchange API: grade D, 46.8/100, rank #1078 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/crypto-com-exchange.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/crypto-com-exchange.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

### Crypto.com Exchange API (D)

Good for: An agent trading spot or perpetuals on Crypto.com through a local MCP server with safety tiers, for a person outside the App's restricted list.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 55 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: exchange-docs.crypto.com and the OpenAPI host answered 403 to robots.txt, so rate limits, key permissions, errors and the changelog could not be read

### 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 50
- Schema & documentation, 58 against 42
- Agent ergonomics, 66 against 50
- Security & auth, 78 against 54
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 29

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 +54

- Crypto.com Exchange API (29): Read as a closed service with an open CLI. The last change we could date is cdcx-cli v1.2.6 on 18 June 2026, 138 days before the check, with no commit since; the API changelog is unread (10). No three dated releases in the last 90 days (0). Five of six open items on cdcx-cli, all by collaborators or Dependabot since May, have no comment; the Exchange has a support chat and contact@crypto.com (8 of 25). Not in the official MCP registry and no official SDK beyond the CLI (5 of 15). CI tests on three operating systems with clippy and fmt; the npm wrapper's postinstall downloads the binary and two Dependabot bumps are open (6 of 10). 10 + 0 + 8 + 5 + 6 = 29.
- 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.

### Reliability: dYdX +33

- Crypto.com Exchange API (50): Read with the hosted lines on the Exchange API at api.crypto.com. status.crypto.com is a Statuspage site with component history (20). Its feed for 18 August to 3 November 2026 has 25 entries; the Exchange is named in two, an 11-minute database upgrade on 18 August and a one-hour balance display issue on 6 October, while the longer disruptions (Android login on 1 and 5 October, card 3DS on 23 September, Main App predictions on 3 November) are App incidents. There is no Exchange API component, so the record may be incomplete. Minor only (20). Rate limits are documented on exchange-docs.crypto.com, which answered 403 to robots.txt and was not read (0, unchecked). 429 handling and client order ids are on the same host (0, unchecked). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 20 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 50.
- 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 +24

- Crypto.com Exchange API (54): HMAC-SHA256 API keys made with 2FA; IP whitelisting and pre-approved withdrawal addresses per the official skill, and revocation from the Exchange settings. The permission list (read, trade, withdraw) is on the unread docs host, so scopes are recorded from the skills (20 of 30). On least privilege, the App skill's key has no withdrawal permission, the Exchange skill requires user confirmation before a production trade, and cdcx refuses withdrawals and cancel-all without `--allow-dangerous`; nothing on the server side limits order size (14 of 20). The tools return exchange data, not third-party text, but no guidance on untrusted content was found (6 of 15). An account audit trail is not documented where we could read (4 of 15). No security.txt on crypto.com; cdcx has a SECURITY.md with private reporting and a three-day acknowledgement, and the organisation keeps HackerOne policy guidelines; certifications were not read (10 of 20). 20 + 14 + 6 + 4 + 10 = 54.
- 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.

### Payments & pricing: dYdX +20

- Crypto.com Exchange API (40): No machine payment protocol (0). Spot fee tiers published without login, 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker at Level 1 (20). The API is free, public market data needs no key, UAT and paper trading need no money (20). A person must sign up in a browser with identity checks and mint the key (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.
- 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.

### Schema & documentation: dYdX +16

- Crypto.com Exchange API (42): An OpenAPI spec exists, since cdcx-cli generates its 95 commands and tools from it at run time, but its host (exchange-developer.crypto.com) answered 403 to robots.txt and the spec was not read; the vendor's own tooling is evidence it exists, not of its quality (15 of 25). No llms.txt on crypto.com or the Exchange pages (0). For descriptions, cdcx's tool descriptions come from the spec, which we couldn't read; the Exchange skill documents 52 endpoints in prose (8 of 20). cdcx's README says the tools carry typed parameters and enum validation, a vendor claim not checked against the spec (8 of 15). For examples, the skills and cdcx README carry worked commands, but the API's error codes and response examples sit on the unread host (6 of 15). Versioned path (v1); the API changelog and announcements page could not be read (5 of 15). 15 + 0 + 8 + 8 + 6 + 5 = 42.
- 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.

### Agent ergonomics: dYdX +16

- Crypto.com Exchange API (50): Graded on the REST API as an agent calls it, with the MCP server noted. cdcx serves up to 95 tools, more than 30, but the default serves the `market` group alone and groups are enabled one by one, which is a read-only subset switch (5 + 10 = 15). Pagination and output controls for the API are on the unread docs host; cdcx adds `-o json|table|ndjson` (8 of 20). cdcx returns structured JSON errors and the safety gate names what is missing; the API's own error table is unread (8 of 20). cdcx's tiers (mutate needs `acknowledged: true`, dangerous needs `--allow-dangerous`), `--dry-run` and paper trading give safe rehearsal, though no MCP annotations or API idempotency keys were seen (12 of 20). No official SDK beyond the CLI; defaults in cdcx are sensible (7 of 15). 15 + 8 + 8 + 12 + 7 = 50.
- 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.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Crypto.com Exchange API | dYdX | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 83 | dYdX +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 42 | 58 | dYdX +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 50 | 66 | dYdX +16 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 54 | 78 | dYdX +24 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | dYdX +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 29 | 83 | dYdX +54 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 50 | Crypto.com Exchange API +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **46.8 · D** | **69.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Crypto.com Exchange API | dYdX |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Foris DAX Limited (Crypto.com) | dYdX Trading Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio |  |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under the Exchange terms and conditions, which our reader couldn't load. cdcx-cli, the official CLI and MCP server, is MIT or Apache-2.0 | 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 | 95 | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-06-18 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-03-12 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-03-12 | 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 | 27 stars, 59 npm/wk | 119 stars, 86k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Crypto.com Exchange API.** Crypto.com is one of two exchanges here with an official MCP server, cdcx-cli, whose 95 generated tools are grouped by service and gated by safety tier. The API docs, OpenAPI file, terms and trading rules refused or hid from our reader, so rate limits, key permissions and the automated-trading clauses are unchecked, and cdcx has no release since June 2026.

**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

### Crypto.com Exchange API

1. Enable only the service groups the task needs with `cdcx mcp config --enable trade,account` (the default serves `market` alone), and leave `--allow-dangerous` off unless the person asks for withdrawals or cancel-all
2. Rehearse on `--env uat` or `cdcx paper` first; production keys trade real funds, and the skill requires explicit user confirmation before each live order
3. Put the key in CDCX_API_KEY and CDCX_API_SECRET or `~/.config/cdcx/config.toml` at 0600; there is no key flag, and the key should have no withdrawal permission and an IP allow-list
4. Pass `acknowledged: true` on mutate tools and `--dry-run` while testing; read the tool's generated schema before calling, since the docs host is unreadable to agents without a browser
5. Check the person's country against Crypto.com's geo-restriction article and the Exchange terms before trading; New York and about 70 countries are excluded from the App, and the Exchange list was unreadable

### 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, Crypto.com Exchange API or dYdX?

dYdX scores 69.5 (B) on agent readiness against Crypto.com Exchange API's 46.8 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Crypto.com Exchange API leads on transparency & trust.

### Do Crypto.com Exchange API and dYdX need an API key?

Crypto.com Exchange API needs an API key. dYdX takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Crypto.com Exchange API and dYdX without installing anything?

Crypto.com Exchange API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. No hosted endpoint is listed for dYdX.

### Are Crypto.com Exchange API and dYdX open source?

No open-source release is listed for Crypto.com Exchange 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/crypto-com-exchange-vs-dydx.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-dydx.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "crypto-com-exchange", "b": "dydx"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare crypto-com-exchange dydx`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/crypto-com-exchange.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/dydx.json

## Other comparisons with Crypto.com Exchange API or dYdX

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