GMX Perpetuals Guide 2026: How to Trade on the Largest DeFi Perps Exchange

GMX is a decentralized perpetuals exchange on Arbitrum and Avalanche with $500M+ TVL. This guide covers how to trade perps on GMX, earn GLP yield, and understand the protocol mechanics.

GMX is the largest decentralized perpetuals exchange by TVL, running on Arbitrum and Avalanche. Unlike CEX perps, GMX uses a multi-asset liquidity pool (GLP) as counterparty to traders — no order book, all trades executed against pool liquidity with Chainlink oracle pricing.

How GMX Perps Work

GLP: Earn by Being the House

GLP (GMX Liquidity Provider token) represents ownership in GMX's multi-asset pool: ~50% stablecoins, ~25% ETH, ~25% BTC and others. GLP earns 70% of all trading fees. When traders lose, GLP gains; when traders win, GLP loses. Historically GLP has been profitable — traders aggregate to net loss on perps exchanges.

GMX V2 Improvements