The Everscale ecosystem continues to expand and evolve, with more advanced products being launched. One recently launched new platform is Gravix, which allows users to trade perpetual contracts on crypto, commodities and fiat currency. This perpetual protocol supports the Everscale and Venom blockchains, which are both built on the Threaded Virtual Machine (TVM).
In this article, we’d like to dive into the concept of trading perpetual futures based on cryptocurrencies, telling you more about Gravix and explaining what new features it brings as a decentralized perpetual platform.
How do perpetual futures contracts work in crypto trading?
If you have ever bought cryptocurrency, you are probably familiar with at least one centralized exchange like Coinbase or Binance. Such platforms offer a convenient and fast way to buy or sell crypto assets using so-called spot trading, where cryptocurrencies can be directly traded between buyer and seller for market or limit price, with instant settlement.
Futures, on the other hand, are a totally different game. A futures contract is a type of derivative, a financial contract that is not an asset itself but a contract on the price of a certain asset. Once created, it represents an obligation between two parties (the seller and the buyer) for the sale and purchase of a certain amount of a base asset at a set date and for a specified price. For traders, futures provide the opportunity to speculate in contracts based on their price and the current price of the base asset on the market.
In crypto trading, perpetual futures contracts work just like for any other class of asset. While a basic futures contract has a date (an expiration date), on which a deal has to be executed, perpetual futures contracts do not expire (hence they are named “perpetual”). The owner of a perpetual contract (or “perp”) based on a cryptocurrency price holds it indefinitely until they decide to sell the perp to another trader. If used correctly, perpetual swaps can be a powerful tool for supporting trading activity on the spot and margin markets.
What is a decentralized perpetual exchange?
Due to the qualities described above, crypto perpetual contracts are popular among seasoned traders, thus many centralized platforms offer trading of this type of derivative. But, to a great extent, trust in centralized crypto exchanges was shattered when FTX suddenly went bankrupt in 2022. The “not your keys, not your crypto” narrative set off as a hot topic in the industry.
Regardless of what led to the collapse, the key issue is that FTX stored users’ crypto assets on its hot wallets, keeping full control over those funds. This illustrates why non-custodial storage of cryptocurrencies has been praised as a basic security rule, and this can only be ensured by a specific type of exchange: a decentralized one.
This is what stands behind Gravix: the idea of offering a seamless perpetual contract trading experience while avoiding custody of user assets by the platform.
Next, we will explore Gravix’s decentralization traits and platform features in detail.
Gravix in a nutshell
In short, Gravix is a decentralized perpetual exchange where users can trade futures (swaps) on cryptocurrency and other asset classes directly from their wallets using the power of smart contracts, without the need to store funds on the platform. The DeFi protocol uses smart contracts for operations built on TVM-compatible blockchains Everscale and Venom.
But solving the storage problem would not be sufficient to call Gravix decentralized. That is why the protocol does not require traders to pass a “know-your-customer” (KYC) procedure, allowing them to maintain anonymity and trade without disclosing personal information.
You will also not find any cookies on the Gravix’s website, as its team decided against tracking user activity for the sake of privacy.
Gravix was developed by Broxus, which contributes to both Everscale and Venom.
Gravix’s features
Gravix offers outstanding features that meet the current demands of traders. Let's explore each of these in more detail:
- Low fees: Gravix is built on top of Everscale, which allows for fast execution of orders as well as low fees for each transaction.
- Trading perps directly from a crypto wallet: there's no need to deposit funds into a separate exchange account. Users can trade directly from their crypto wallets (EVER Wallet is supported at the moment), ensuring full control and security over their assets.
- A wide range of available assets: using perpetual futures, Gravix provides exposure to a diverse selection of assets, including cryptocurrencies, stocks, and Forex. This allows traders to create diversified strategies tailored to their individual needs.
- Trading leverage of up to 200x: both conservative and risk-oriented traders can choose the best leverage that meets their individual risk management preferences.
- No price spikes: all asset prices are averages of quotes from dozens of exchanges, streamed from Chainlink oracles.
- No cookies trackers: Gravix values the privacy of its users and does not employ cookies to track their activity.
- No KYC: Gravix allows traders to maintain their anonymity and trade without disclosing personal information.
Trading perpetual futures on Gravix
Probably the most important thing when it comes to trading perps is where the price of a base asset is derived. On Gravix, this is solved by using the acclaimed Chainlink oracle network, which calculates an average market price by getting real time data for different kinds of assets (not only cryptocurrencies) from dozens of trusted sources.
To start trading, you will need to connect a Web3 wallet supporting Everscale or Venom, like EVER Wallet, in the form of a browser extension or using the browser in the EVER Wallet mobile app, and choose which asset you want to exchange. The minimum size of a position to open is $5. Users can open either short or long positions in different trading pairs listed on Gravix. You can opt-in for leverage of up to 25x, and the platform plans to expand the maximum leverage to 200x.
Gravix’s team made sure the app’s interface is intuitive and functional in order to guarantee a versatile user experience. Each trading pair has a screen with built-in TradingView charts that enable trading strategies and analytics natively in the web app. Charts can be shared with followers and friends with a single click.
Why price spreads matter
After you open a position, a spread is used to calculate whether it is profitable or not. A spread is basically the difference between the price at which an asset can be bought and the one at which it can be sold using the best available prices. Each asset on the decentralized perpetual exchange has its own spread.
When you buy an asset, they pay a price equal to the current selling price plus the base spread. If you sell an asset, you must sell at a price equal to the current purchase price minus the base spread.
User interface
Trade section. The first page you see when you enter the Gravix app is the Trade section, which essentially acts as the heart of the DEX. On this page, users get all the necessary tools and functionality to open and close positions, perform a technical analysis with in-built Trading View tools, view closed and open orders, and more. Check the trading window on the screen below:
Available pairs. By clicking on the dropdown in the top left corner, users can select from the trading pairs available on the platform. Gravix is a decentralized perpetual exchange with different assets, including cryptocurrencies, Forex, stocks, and commodities:
Built-in tools for technical analysis. Trading perpetual swaps requires sophisticated technical and fundamental analysis to predict an asset's future movement based on its past performance, specific activities, patterns, and so on. One of the most popular tools for technical analysis is TradingView, which is natively integrated into the Gravix trading interface. Users can easily utilize all its features, as well as take screenshots of their charts with the added analytics layer to share their findings with the community:
Margin trading. Gravix allows users to open long or short positions on perpetual crypto futures by inputting the number of assets for their position and adjusting the leverage in accordance with their strategy, whether it's more conservative or risk-associated with high returns. Higher leverage can yield more profits upon closing the position, but it also increases the liquidation risk. By modifying the leverage and position, you can view all the essential information for successful trading, which includes position size, fees, liquidation price, borrow fee, and maximum PnL. See the margin trading window below:
Open and closed positions. At the very bottom of the trade section, users can view the history of all their closed positions as well as their active open positions. This feature is very useful for monitoring all trading activity, as well as performing successful trades and avoiding liquidations and loss of collateral:
USDT staking with increasing APR
On Gravix, users can stake USDT, and its annual percentage rate (APR) continuously increases.
How does it work? When you stake USDT, you receive stgUSDT tokens in proportion to the deposited amount in the special staking pool. Over time, fees generated by the trading volume on Gravix go to the staking pool, increasing the value of stgUSDT there relative to USDT. After you withdraw a stake, the stgUSDT is converted back to USDT, and you receive a greater amount of USDT than you initially deposited.
For additional guidance on how to stake USDT and generate passive income, refer to the “How to stake” section in the Gravix documentation.
Referral system: Invite-to-earn business model
The perpetual protocol Gravix employs an invite-to-earn business model for users with its referral system. The referral dashboard is a powerful tool for managing referral links, complete with all the necessary analytics and information. This referral system allows traders who are building communities and interacting with their audience to invite their followers to Gravix and earn rewards based on their trading volume. To start inviting new users, you need to create your own custom links.
One of the key benefits of the referral system on Gravix is the inclusion of sub-referrals, which allows users to earn not only from their direct referrals, but also from the referrals made by their invitees. This creates a powerful incentive for traders to expand their network and enjoy passive income from their invite-to-earn models and trading activities resulting from referrals.
To withdraw referral earnings, all you need to do is click "Withdraw" and sign the transaction.
Conclusion
Gravix is a powerful non-custodial perpetual platform for trading futures on crypto, commodities and fiat currency, equipped with multiple features, including the margin trading and staking, and a comprehensive referral system that allow you to get additional income. Stay tuned for more updates, and follow Gravix’s social media profiles — in Discord, Telegram or X (Twitter) — to join the community and learn more about the product.
We also invite you to study another DeFi app on Everscale called FlatQube, a decentralized exchange for trading various cryptocurrencies where you can participate in yield farming and DAO governance.
