Jan 30, 2026

Perps DEX War (3/5): GRVT Hybrid Validium Model

GRVT Summary

Feature	Rating	Notes
Liquidity	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Strong depth on major pairs driven by incentivized market makers, but liquidity is concentrated in top perps. Long-tail markets remain thin.
UX/UI	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Execution and interface closely mirror a centralized exchange, lowering friction for pro traders. However, the experience is still web-dependent.
Yield	⭐⭐⭐	Competitive yields via GLP, fixed trading margin yield, and maker rebates. But these yield sources are not live for long enough to be battle-tested.
Asset Variety	⭐⭐⭐	Focused on high-liquidity perpetuals. Asset expansion is roadmap-dependent, with no spot markets live yet.
Safety	⭐⭐⭐	ZK Validium preserves self-custody and privacy, but relies on an off-chain data availability layer and a regulated operator for core functions.

Today, for Part 3, we turn our attention to a contender that isn’t just trying to build a better perp DEX, it’s trying to kill the CEX.

Enter GRVT (pronounced “Gravity”).

In the crypto landscape of early 2026, the line between CeFi and DeFi is blurring. Traders are exhausted by the struggle to balance execution speed, privacy, and self-custody.

GRVT claims to have solved it. Operating as a hybrid exchange on ZKsync’s ZK Stack Validium, GRVT offers a “self-custodial CEX killer” experience. With $2.36 billion in recent 24-hour volume and a valuation north of $540 million, they are not just participating in the war; they are rewriting the rules of engagement.

Let’s dive deep into the Hybrid Validium Model and see if GRVT has the gravity to pull the traders into its orbit.

Solving the Impossible Trinity

To understand why GRVT matters, we first have to look at the battlefield. For the last cycle, perp DEXs struggled with a specific trade-off. If you put everything on-chain, you sacrificed speed and privacy. If you moved matching off-chain, you often introduced trust assumptions that DeFi users hated.

GRVT was established specifically to dismantle this trade-off. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Singapore, the protocol was built to blend the user experience of centralized exchanges with the security of decentralized finance.

The thesis is simple:

Institutional capital and high-frequency traders will never fully migrate to DeFi until the experience matches the performance of traditional finance.

This isn’t just marketing fluff. The team behind GRVT is composed of veterans from the traditional financial world who understand this gap better than anyone. Co-founder and CEO Hong Gyu Yea is a former Goldman Sachs professional with deep expertise in quantitative trading. Co-founder Aaron Ong also hails from Goldman and Oanda, focusing on institutional finance, while Matthew Quek handles the rigorous compliance required for a regulated on-chain exchange.

They built GRVT to offer sub-millisecond execution speeds and privacy, two things historically absent from on-chain perps, while ensuring users never lose control of their funds.

The ZK Stack Validium

How do you achieve 600,000 transactions per second (TPS) on a blockchain? You don’t use a standard rollup; you use a ZKsync’s ZK Stack Validium codebase, a Layer-2 solution on Ethereum.

The Architecture

Unlike standard rollups that post all transaction data to Ethereum (which is expensive and public), a Validium stores data off-chain while posting Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs to Ethereum to verify the validity of the state transitions.

Off-Chain Matching: Order matching happens off-chain in a central limit order book (CLOB). This allows for the instant, gas-free feel of a CEX.
On-Chain Settlement: The actual settlement of funds happens on-chain, secured by Ethereum.
Privacy: Because of the ZK proofs, sensitive trade data can remain confidential, a massive requirement for institutional desks that don’t want their positions front-run by on-chain sleuths.

This architecture allows GRVT to support gas-free cross-chain deposits and handle a theoretical throughput of 600k TPS. It effectively removes the bottleneck of the blockchain from the actual act of trading, while retaining the security guarantees of self-custody.

A Self-Custodial CEX Killer

If you open GRVT today, you aren’t greeted with the complex, clunky interfaces typical of DeFi in 2021. You see a professional trading terminal.

1. The Interface

GRVT integrates familiar tools like TradingView charts, offering a UI that is indistinguishable from top-tier centralized exchanges. This lowers the barrier to entry for users migrating from platforms like Bybit or OKX.

2. Execution and Fees

This is where the war is won or lost. Professional traders care about slippage and fees above all else.

Speed: The platform boasts sub-millisecond execution. In the world of high-frequency trading (HFT), this is the difference between profit and loss.
Negative Maker Fees: In a bold move to attract liquidity, GRVT implements negative maker rebates (-1 bps). This means if you provide liquidity via limit orders, you aren’t just saving on fees; you are paid to trade. This is a standard in TradFi and CEXs but rare in on-chain DEXs.

3. The Product Suite

As of January 2026, GRVT has expanded well beyond simple leverage.

Perpetual Futures: The bread and butter. Trading pairs like BTC/USDT are live with deep liquidity.
Spot Trading: Currently on the roadmap, signaling their intent to be a full-stack exchange.
Performance: The platform is currently handling over $2.36 billion in 24-hour trading volume and holds $519 million in Open Interest (OI) across 79 trading pairs.

These numbers are staggering. A cumulative volume exceeding $150 billion puts GRVT in the upper echelon of DEXs, challenging the incumbents we discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this series.

Institutional-Grade Yield

One of the most interesting aspects of the “Hybrid Validium Model” is how it treats non-traders.

GRVT introduced an Invest module that allows users to access professional-grade strategies directly on-chain. This appeals to the passive capital that usually sits idle in wallets.

1. Quant-Driven Strategies

GRVT offers access to strategies managed by professionals like the AllDeFi Quant Directional fund. In 2024, this strategy reportedly returned between 18% and 204%, showcasing the potential of algorithmic trading strategies accessible to the public.

This removes the barrier to access that has prevented retail users from professional strategies.

2. GRVT Liquidity Provider (GLP)

Similar to the GMX model but turbo-charged, the GLP pool allows users to provide liquidity to the exchange.

Performance: The GLP has been offering APYs around 22%.
Demand: The demand for this yield is high. As of recent reports, the pool is nearing capacity, with 19 million of the 21 million cap already filled.
Incentives: Beyond the base yield, LPs earn points (which convert to airdrops), creating a “flywheel” effect that deepens liquidity, which improves execution, which attracts more volume.

3. Stablecoin Yield

Users can earn up to 10% yield on stablecoins derived from trading revenue. In a market where risk-free rates are stabilizing, a fixed yield on stables (backed by real trading fees, not inflation) is a massive draw.

Funding and Backing

A DEX war cannot be fought without capital. GRVT is incredibly well-funded.

The project has raised approximately $33-39 million in total funding. Most notably, they closed a $19 million Series A round in September 2025, just a few months ago.

Key Backers:

Lead Investors: ZKsync, Further Ventures, EigenCloud, 500 Global.
Strategic Investors: Delphi Ventures, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Hack VC, QCP Capital, Matrix Partners.

The presence of SIG (Susquehanna) and Matrix Partners is telling. These are heavy hitters in the traditional and quantitative trading worlds. Their involvement suggests that GRVT is being built to fulfill institutional standards.

The current valuation sits at approximately $540 million, giving them the runway to survive a prolonged bear market or a fierce incentive war.

The Genesis Airdrop (Season 2)

Now, for the reason why traders are pushing up the volume on GRVT: the airdrop.

As of January 2026, GRVT is in the midst of one of the largest airdrop campaign. They have allocated 22% of the total token supply (220 million $GRVT) to the community. This is a significant allocation toward aggressive user acquisition.

We are currently in Season 2.

The Breakdown

Season 1 (10%): This allocation was locked for early adopters and revealed back in October 2025.
Season 2 (12%): This is live right now. It rewards consistent activity, trading volume, and liquidity provision.

How to Farm It

The distribution model is community-voted and favors active participation over passive holding.

Trade: 11.5% of the rewards are allocated to traders based on volume. With negative maker fees, savvy traders are essentially being paid to farm this allocation.
Provide Liquidity: 3.5% is allocated to LPs. If you can get into the GLP pool (which is near full capacity), you stack 22% APY plus airdrop points.
Ecosystem Quests: 5% is allocated for invites and Galxe quests.

The Timeline

The Token Generation Event (TGE) is targeted for Q1 2026. Since it is currently late January, we are looking at a potential launch in February or March.

Vesting: There are no lockups. Tokens are released at TGE and monthly thereafter. This liquidity is attractive compared to the 1-year cliffs seen in other protocols.

Risks and Considerations

No analysis is complete without a look at the dangers.

Validium Security: While Validiums are scalable, they differ from Rollups in data availability. Data is kept off-chain. While ZK proofs verify correctness, there is a theoretical data availability risk that is higher than a pure on-chain rollup. GRVT counters this with “multi-layered security” and “confidential data availability”, but it’s a distinction worth noting.
Regulatory Exposure: Being the “first regulated on-chain exchange” is a double-edged sword. It attracts institutions, but it also imposes strict KYC/AML requirements that might alienate the “anon” DeFi crowd. However, GRVT seems to be betting that the institutional market is larger than the anon market.
Competition: The “Hybrid” narrative is crowded. Other players are also moving toward app-chains and L3s. GRVT’s lead lies in its specific ZKsync integration and massive backing, but the moat must be maintained by volume.

The Hybrid Sanctum

GRVT represents a maturing evolution in our Perps DEX War series. In Part 1, we saw protocols fighting with yield. In Part 2, we saw them fighting with liquidity efficiency. In Part 3, GRVT is fighting with infrastructure and compliance.

By building on the ZK Stack and prioritizing a “Hybrid” model, GRVT is betting that the future of DeFi isn’t about replacing the CEX experience, but replicating it trustlessly. With $2.36B in daily volume and a TGE on the immediate horizon, they are currently one of the heavyweight contenders to watch in Q1 2026.