Decentralized exchange dYdX acquired Pocket Protector, a crypto social-trading startup known for its Telegram-based trading bot. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but dYdX confirmed it was funded through a mix of cash and DYDX tokens.
The acquisition also brings new leadership to the eight-year-old exchange. Eddie Zhang, Pocket Protector co-founder and former Meta and Amazon product exec, will step in as dYdX’s new president. Fellow co-founder Kaiser Kinbote will serve as head of growth.
Founded in 2024, Pocket Protector lets users trade inside Telegram group chats, follow top traders, and crowdsource ideas in real-time. It has already notched over 50,000 users and surpassed $1 billion in annualized trading volume. The platform, backed by Electric Capital and Dragonfly, also built an iOS app, though dYdX said it won’t be releasing it following the deal.
“Eddie’s founder mindset and product depth will help us ship powerful new experiences fast,” said dYdX founder and CEO Antonio Juliano. The exchange, which ranks fifth in DeFi derivatives by total value locked (TVL), plans to integrate Pocket Protector’s features into its main platform while continuing to support existing tools.
Juliano said acquisition talks started in March and closed just over a month later. The deal adds most of Pocket Protector’s nine-person team to dYdX. While product details are still under wraps, the exchange hinted at upcoming launches focused on new trading protocols and social features.
The deal also follows a series of changes inside dYdX. In recent months, the company folded its foundation’s business teams into a new international unit under dYdX Trading Inc. That reorg came after an October layoff that trimmed 35% of staff — a move Juliano said was meant to reset the structure and return to a leaner, startup-style operation.
Since launching in 2017, dYdX has handled over $1 trillion in trading volume. Pocket Protector was its first acquisition.
The deal adds to a growing list of crypto M&A in 2025. Coinbase picked up Deribit for $2.9 billion, Kraken bought NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, Stripe bought Bridge for $1.1 billion, and Robinhood snapped up Bitstamp for $200 million.
