Arbitrum-based decentralized trading platform (DEX) Vela Exchange’s DXP utility token has mounted a powerful rally as the project prepares to release its much-anticipated beta version next week.
DXP’s price gained some 50% in the past 24 hours and its price more than doubled since trading below $1 on Wednesday morning, according to cryptocurrency price tracker CoinGecko.
Vela Exchange was originally known as Dexpools on Ethereum before moving development to Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain. The platform allows for spot and perpetual futures trading, as well as peer-to-peer over-the-counter (OTC) trading where traders can avoid slippage and frontrunning.
The platform’s beta version opens for registered testers with early access on Jan. 31, and will be available for the broader public starting Feb. 7, according to the project’s website.
Vela’s token also garnered attention for listing the rebranded, identical utility token VELA on Camelot, another DEX on Arbitrum, on Thursday, potentially contributing to the rally. DXP holders on Ethereum and Metis can exchange their tokens one-to-one to VELA on Arbitrum without any fees using a bridge.
DXP or VELA investors can earn a share of the trading fees generated on the platform. At press time, DXP and VELA were both changing hands at $2.19.
Traders are betting on Vela taking a share of Arbitrum’s growing DEX activity and potentially mounting a challenge to the dominance of derivatives exchange GMX. Perpetual-focused GMX emerged as a leader in the sector last fall surpassing DEX giant UniSwap in daily trading fee earnings at one point. Gains Network, a DEX initially launched on Polygon and then expanded to Arbitrum, generated over $1.5 billion trading volume on Arbitrum after nearly a month of being deployed, CoinDesk reported. Trader Joe, the top DEX on the Avalanche blockchain, is also expanding to Arbitrum in early 2023.
