As dYdX staking begins, the tokenomics of dYdX are scrutinized.

The decentralized exchange, dYdX, has launched its beta mainnet layer-1 for Tuesday. This allows USDC stake rewards on the Proof-of-Stake blockchain.

Crypto Twitter personalities criticised the decision, saying that it was unfair to those who were already inside dYdX. Two weeks prior to the release of a large number of tokens for dYdX employees, consultants, and investors, staking rewards will be paid. The supply of tokens locked for insiders at dYdX can be staked to earn rewards.

dYdX’s founder insists the project is a “long-term player” and not interested in short-term profits.

The dYdX, which was formerly a layer-2 DEX for perpetual swaps is now moving to its chain created with the CosmosSDK. Blockworks reported that the move was motivated because of the need to increase throughput in order to accommodate the platform’s orders.

The dYdX Operations DAO announced that Monday the chain had entered its beta stage. Trading fees will accumulate for the stakers and validators who secure the platform.

Antonio Juliano, founder of dYdX, wrote in X about the staking reward being paid out. “cold, hard, $USDC.”

In the past, when dYdX operated as a layer-2 it charged maker taker fees that weren’t shared with its users. Trading fees are shared between stakers and the dYdX blockchain.

A X user questioned the timing of fee sharing. The users argued that it was not a coincidence the fees have been channeled towards dYdX as token unlock is approaching on Dec. 1.

Dennis Liu, a cryptocurrency investor and YouTuber noted that dYdX’s vesting plan has been publicly available for some time.

“The cliff has always been there, it’s their choice to choose to release this upgrade whenever, and the tokenomics has been the same since day one, it’s not like they changed it,” Liu said.

Liu noted that, while dYdX had widely advertised all trading fee payments would be made to the stakers of tokens locked in escrow, there was little information about how investors could stake these tokens.

The staking or locked tokens was not mentioned in three blog posts by dYdX operations on the dYdX launch. DYdX says that locked tokens can be used as staking but are still subject to restrictions on transfer.

“I wish they could have come up with this all together with the news so that people know what they’re getting into,” Liu said.

Juliano responded to critics of dYdX staking on X by pointing out that they have been in existence for “6.5 years now.”

“We are not exiting, we’re building something larger. And we will work to earn your trust over time,” Juliano wrote.

dYdX has seen a 35% increase in price since the beta launch of its mainnet. However, token unlocks tend to inflate supplies and cause price decreases and pressure from sellers. TokenUnlock estimates that dYdX will increase its circulating stock by almost 80% after the unlock on Dec. 1. This is from 190 to 340 millions.