DeGate Crypto Exchange Review: Is This zkRollup DEX Worth Trying in 2025?

DeGate isn’t another Uniswap clone. It doesn’t rely on automated market makers. Instead, it tries to bring the familiar order book experience of centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase into the decentralized world - and it does so using zkRollup technology to slash gas fees and speed up trades. But here’s the real question: if you’re trading crypto in 2025, should you even bother with DeGate?

What Is DeGate, Really?

DeGate is a decentralized exchange built on Ethereum that uses zkRollup, a Layer-2 scaling solution, to process trades off-chain and then settle them securely on Ethereum. It launched in 2021 with one clear goal: fix the broken user experience of early DEXs. Back then, trading on Uniswap meant paying $5 in gas just to swap two tokens, waiting minutes for confirmation, and being stuck with price slippage because there was no limit order system. DeGate promised to fix all that.

Unlike AMM-based DEXs, DeGate uses a traditional order book. That means you can place limit orders, set stop-losses (though it doesn’t support them yet), and trade at exact prices - something you simply can’t do on Uniswap without using a third-party aggregator. The protocol has no admin key. No one can freeze your funds. No one can change the rules. That’s a big deal in a space where even “decentralized” projects have backdoors.

The native token, DG, has a total supply of 1 billion, but only about 217 million are circulating. That’s a red flag for some. Where’s the rest? The team hasn’t explained it. No vesting schedule. No public treasury breakdown. That lack of transparency is the first warning sign.

How Fast and Cheap Is It?

DeGate’s biggest win is cost and speed. On Ethereum mainnet, a simple swap might cost you $1.50 to $5. On DeGate? Around $0.02 per trade. That’s not a typo. Transactions settle in under 2 seconds. That’s faster than most centralized exchanges.

This isn’t magic. It’s zkRollup. Think of it like bundling 100 trades into one single proof that gets verified on Ethereum. The security? Still 100% Ethereum. The speed? Near-instant. The fees? Almost nothing. That’s why DeGate exists - to make decentralized trading feel like using a centralized exchange, but without trusting a company with your keys.

But here’s the catch: you need to wait 7 days to withdraw funds. That’s the zkRollup challenge period - a safety net to catch fraud. If someone tries to cheat the system, anyone can submit a fraud proof during that window. It’s secure. But it’s also inconvenient. If you need to move funds fast, DeGate isn’t for you.

Liquidity? Barely There

DeGate’s biggest weakness isn’t tech. It’s liquidity. And that’s a death sentence for any exchange.

In September 2024, DeGate’s 24-hour trading volume was $157. That’s less than what a single popular meme coin trades in an hour on Uniswap. Compare that to Uniswap’s $1.2 billion, PancakeSwap’s $750 million, or even Curve’s $400 million. DeGate isn’t just small - it’s invisible in the market.

What does that mean for you? If you try to trade more than $50 worth of a token, you’ll likely get a terrible price. Liquidity for most pairs is under $400. That’s not enough to handle even small institutional trades. One Reddit user said they tried to buy $200 of a token and couldn’t get filled. Another said their $100 trade moved the price by 12%.

There are only about 50 trading pairs available. No altcoins you’ve never heard of. No new launch tokens. Just ETH and the top 20 coins. If you’re looking for early access to new projects, DeGate won’t help you.

Is the Interface Worth It?

Yes - if you’re used to trading on Binance or Kraken. The UI looks and feels like a centralized exchange. Order book on the left, depth chart on the right, buy/sell buttons where you expect them. No confusing sliders or slippage tolerance settings that make AMMs feel like gambling.

Connecting your wallet (MetaMask, Trust Wallet, etc.) takes 30 seconds. Placing your first limit order? Under two minutes. That’s a huge win for newcomers to DeFi who hate the chaos of Uniswap’s interface.

But here’s the problem: the interface doesn’t matter if there’s no one to trade with. You can have the most beautiful trading terminal in the world, but if no one’s on the other side, it’s just a fancy calculator.

What’s Missing?

DeGate lacks features most traders take for granted:

• No stop-loss or take-profit orders
• No margin trading
• No futures or options
• No mobile app (only web-based)
• No API for bots or automated trading

It’s a stripped-down version of what you’d find on a CEX. That’s intentional - the team is focused on security and low fees, not features. But in 2025, traders expect more. If you’re serious about trading, you’ll need to use DeGate alongside other tools, not as your main platform.

Who Is This For?

DeGate isn’t for everyone. It’s not even for most crypto traders.

It’s only worth considering if:

• You want to trade using limit orders on a fully decentralized platform
• You’re trading small amounts - under $100 per trade
• You care more about security and low fees than liquidity or features
• You’re experimenting with zkRollup tech and don’t mind the 7-day withdrawal delay

If you’re trading $500 or more, or you need fast access to your funds, skip it. Use a CEX or a high-liquidity DEX like dYdX or Curve instead.

It’s also not for long-term investors. DG’s price has been stuck around $0.05 since early 2024. The 200-day moving average is $0.075. The current price is below both short- and long-term trends. Even optimistic forecasts predict a jump to $0.40 by late 2025 - but that’s based on zero current adoption. That’s a gamble, not an investment.

Support, Docs, and Community? Almost None

DeGate has no live chat. No Discord. No Telegram group. Just an email support system that takes 72 hours to respond - if it responds at all. Independent testers sent 15 support emails in September 2024. Only 3 got replies.

The documentation is thin. It explains how to connect a wallet but doesn’t detail how zkRollup withdrawals work, how to handle slippage in low-liquidity markets, or what happens if your order doesn’t fill. You’re expected to figure it out yourself.

The community? Tiny. Only 1,247 followers on Twitter. No active forums. No Reddit discussions beyond a handful of frustrated users. Compare that to Uniswap’s 750,000+ Twitter followers and 120,000+ Telegram members. DeGate is a ghost town.

What’s Next for DeGate?

The roadmap says they’ll integrate with Arbitrum and Optimism by late 2025. They claim they’ll add 200+ trading pairs by year-end. They’re also planning to sync with Ethereum’s Proto-Danksharding upgrade.

But here’s the reality: they’ve been on this roadmap for two years. Progress is glacial. GitHub shows only 42 commits in the past year. Only 12 developers have ever contributed. No institutional investors. No liquidity providers. No partnerships beyond a single integration with Best Wallet - which just uses DeGate as a tiny liquidity source inside bigger trades.

Most DeFi analysts give DeGate less than a 30% chance of surviving three more years. Why? Because liquidity is the oxygen of a DEX. Without it, no amount of clever tech can save you.

The Bottom Line

DeGate is a technically impressive project with real innovation. zkRollup + order book = a smart idea. But ideas don’t move markets. Liquidity does.

Right now, DeGate is a niche experiment - useful for micro-traders who want to avoid gas fees and trust no one. It’s not a replacement for Uniswap, Coinbase, or even dYdX. It’s a side project. A proof of concept. A sandbox.

If you’ve got $20 to play with and want to see how a decentralized order book works, go ahead. Try it. But don’t expect to build a trading strategy around it. Don’t stake your savings in DG. Don’t think it’s going to blow up.

It might. But the odds? Slim.