Headline: Токены DYDX на $26 млн остались заперты в Ethereum из-за отключения моста Translation: DYDX Tokens Worth $26 Million Trapped in Ethereum Due to Bridge Shutdown

Approximately 41.7 million DYDX tokens (around $26.2 million at the time of writing), formatted as ERC-20, have been locked on the Ethereum network following the shutdown of the cross-chain bridge and the withdrawal of liquidity from pools.

This saga began back in November 2024, when developers first proposed the discontinuation of support for the blockchain of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The proposal aimed to halt the operation of the wethDYDX Smart Contract (Bridge) in the dYdX Chain network, which served as a bridge for the token itself.

In December, the initiative was approved, with the disconnection of the protocol postponed for six months. By June 2025, the final vote took place, with the majority of validators supporting the decision.

Notably, only 434 accounts participated in the last round, and the post about the proposal on the forum received slightly over 500 views.

Essentially, users had a six-month window to transfer their assets; however, many retail investors typically overlook community initiatives. Furthermore, the proposal to disconnect from Ethereum received limited exposure.

According to on-chain data and calculations from a blogger, the volume of assets «blocked» on Ethereum reached 4.2% of the total coin supply. At the same time, 45,000 holders of ethDYDX have positive balances, with approximately 11,000 holding more than $100, and 2,500 holding over $1,000.

«Selling tokens on Uniswap is nearly impossible: there’s no liquidity, and the price is tens of times lower than the market ($0.01 compared to $0.7). Essentially, the tokens on Ethereum have become ‘worthless.’ [Retail] investors were not properly informed,» remarked a user who reached out to the editorial team.

Funds and trading platforms were contacted directly, so they managed to migrate their assets, added the speaker, citing large amounts transferred through the bridge during the migration phase.

Influencer Sobolev considers the situation a «deliberate scam.» According to him, the team simply froze retail funds to improve tokenomics. He referenced one of the points from the initial proposal, which states:

«Reducing the circulating supply of unallocated ethDYDX tokens may help balance DYDX sales and ease inflationary pressure.»

Sobolev also labeled the voting on the platform’s proposals as «fiction,» since only the largest validators participate. The influence of retail investors can be easily disregarded due to the small number of coins they hold, meaning their opinions are not taken into account.

The blogger attempted to reach out to the dYdX team, including the CEO, COO, and other members. However, his messages went unanswered.

Affected users ultimately raised the issue for public discussion.

«Many community members, including myself, still hold DYDX tokens in ERC-20 format on Ethereum. Since the official bridge was shut down, there isn’t a fair or simple way to migrate these tokens to the dYdX blockchain,» wrote the author of the post under the nickname werty.

As a solution, several approaches were proposed:

Currently, comments on the initiative are being collected. The forum post has already garnered three times as many views as the original proposal.

Many investors confirmed the problem and urged the team to allow withdrawal of the tokens.

«I understand that the decision to close the bridge was made based on management’s proposal and applied automatically, but many users, myself included, now cannot access our coins. This has created a very challenging situation for us,» a participant in the discussion stated.

Judging by the comments, most users did not keep track of the approved proposal and could not transfer their coins within the specified timeframe. Some expressed frustration over the unwillingness to convert coins in pools with low liquidity.

For those affected, a dedicated Telegram channel has been created, where updates and news about the situation are shared. According to one of the latest messages, on September 17, the trading platform team will hold a call regarding the stranded coins.

It is worth noting that in March, the dYdX community voted for the distribution of $1.5 million in DYDX from the treasury.

In the same month, the exchange launched a buyback program for its native token, allocating 25% of monthly commission revenues.