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Amidst the burgeoning growth of a diverse range of Ethereum decentralized exchange protocols, users are in constant search for the better. Within five years since it was founded, 0x protocol has made an impressive mark on the audience of this kind, providing an open protocol that facilitates low friction peer-to-peer exchange of tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

Unlike several other Ethereum-based decentralized exchange protocols, 0x supports both fungible (ERC 20) and non-fungible (ERC-723) tokens. Participants of the protocol can use it for the permission-less trading of a wide range of assets. More than a dozen apps on 0x equip users with ways to buy, sell, and exchange a vast majority of Ethereum assets.

You can apply the protocol to different use case scenarios, including online marketplaces, OTC trading desks, DeFi exchange protocols, and more. Our 0x review will help you understand the nuances involved in the functioning of the protocol and how you can leverage its benefits, either as a user or by integrating 0x into your services.

0x Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Splits up transactions across DEX networks to ensure the lowest slippage.

  • Covers all popular DEX Networks with competitive pricing through its RFQ system.

  • Provides access to AMM liquidity that’s impossible to get anywhere else.

  • Ensures high uptime, fast response rate, and low revert rate with world-class user interface.

  • Offers search engine service for liquidity and markets, enabling token trade at the best prices.

Cons

  • Complaints of incomplete code.

  • Doesn’t fully specify the scheme to upgrade the protocol.

  • Additional protocol fee in the form of Ether (ETH) applies for users to pay for the gas.

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0x Ratings

Supply

  • Max Supply: 1,000,000,000 ZRX

Network Speed

  • Rating: High
  • Reason: 0x has a response time of 1.5 seconds, 2.7% faster than its competitors on average. It also has an uptime of 99.9%, making it instantly available for use.

Disbursement

  • Rating: Medium-High
  • Reason: Half of the current circulating supply of ZRX tokens was released during the launch of the token through an ICO in 2017. The protocol released 75% of its total token supply by October 2020. Right now, the circulating tokens occupy more than 84% of its supply. There are more than 185k holders of ZRX tokens.

Liquidity

  • Rating: Medium-High
  • Reason: ZRX is listed on many exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, Huobi Global, Bitstamp, Bithumb, Bitfinex, Bittrex, Gemini, etc. The ZRX/USD trading pair on the Coinbase exchange holds the maximum percentage volume – a little more than 11.5%. The ZRX/USDT trading pair on Binance occupies a little more than 10% of the overall volume. The other trading pairs include EUR, BTC, KRW, BUSD, ETH, and more.

Developer Engagement

  • Rating: High
  • Reason: 0x incentivizes developers by equipping them with an open-source protocol that is free to use and a drop-in exchange solution to build on top of. Developers leverage the protocol to build decentralized exchanges (DEXs), marketplaces for digital collectibles, and to integrate exchange functionality into wallets.

History of 0x (ZRX)

0x operates under the legal name ZeroEx, International. It was founded on October 1st, 2016, by Amir Bandeali and Will Warren.

0x has its headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast, Western US. To date, 0x has raised total funding of $39 million from 24 investors. Some investors of the protocol include IOSG Ventures, Blockchain.com Ventures, DeFi Alliance, Pantera Capital, Nascent Ventures, Jump Capital, etc.

The conception and the subsequent launch of 0x were driven by the aim for a world where all forms of value could take the form of tokens on public blockchains. Here, forms of value imply the traditional finance instruments, including fiat currency, stocks, bonds, commodities, debt instruments, real estate, video game items, digital collectibles, software licenses, reputation, and more.

The short-term missions that 0x decided to accomplish to achieve its long-term vision included building public infrastructure and making assets more accessible and liquid. It also decided to empower enterprising teams around the world to build a new financial system. The vision of creating a tokenized world where value could flow freely weaved these missions together.

Advantages of 0x (ZRX)

The 0x API functions as a best-in-class liquidity aggregator. It helps users focus on their products and not worry about finding the best prices. The smart order routing system of 0x splits up a transaction across several decentralized exchange networks so that you get the lowest slippage possible.

Using 0x also frees you from worrying about adding new sources. 0x covers all the popular decentralized exchange networks, including Uniswap, Oasis, Dodo, Balancer, Mooniswap, Curve, Bancor, mStable, and more.

The professional market makers can offer competitive pricing through 0x’s RFQ system. The 0x API interacts directly with the market makers to supplement open liquidity with exclusive pricing. As a DEX aggregator, it integrates both on and off-chain liquidity. The API samples smart contract liquidity pools, such as Uniswap and Curve, to source on-chain liquidity. For off-chain liquidity, the protocol surveys open order books on 0x Mesh.

The performance of the 0x protocol is one of the best available in the DeFi world. According to data compiled, analyzed, and presented by 0x, 70% of the time, 0x API provides better-adjusted prices than 1inch, Dex Ag, Paraswap, and Uniswap. The adjusted price implies the price after transaction fees are paid.

0x Matcha is the global search engine for liquidity and markets. It helps DeFi developers and traders to buy and sell assets at the best price possible across all DEX liquidity sources. It is an explorer where you can search 26 exchanges at once. It is a safe platform to trade and charges no hidden fees.

Using Matcha, you can start trading directly with your wallet without having to open an account. It has no trading limits and does not cost extra on deposits and withdrawals.

Advantages of the ZRX Token

ZRX is an ERC20 utility token, powering the 0x protocol. ZRX serves both the purposes of staking and governance. At the time of writing this review, the number of ZRX tokens staked had already crossed the mark of 71 million. The ZRX staking rewards are denominated in ETH but distributed in WETH. There is no withdrawal deadline on rewards as long as your ZRX holdings remain staked. You can claim your rewards any time you want. All you need to do is go to the ZRX portal, connect your wallet, and click on withdraw rewards.

ZRX tokens give you governance rights over the protocol. As a ZRX holder, you can vote on 0x improvement proposals or ZEIPs.

Disadvantages of 0x (ZRX)

According to the researchers at Cornell Tech’s Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts, who reviewed the protocol’s publicly available Github code and white paper, the 0x code is incomplete.

The researchers also claimed the 0x project does not fully specify how it plans to use its ZRX token in a proposed governance scheme to upgrade the protocol. The researchers believe that this could lead to security risks.

0x uses ZRX tokens to pay for relayer fees (nodes are known as relayers). Since 0x makers and takers can identify one another through a publicly viewable order book, there is a valid scope for them to sidestep relayers and trade point to point, creating another potential problem. Many reviewers also believe that having a dedicated token to pay for ‘relayer fees’ is not prudent, as users can easily pay through Etherum’s native token, Ether.

Where Can I Buy ZRX Tokens?

ZRX is one of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. Hence, it is available on many cryptocurrency exchanges. In fact, more than 200 different exchanges have ZRX available for trade. You can trade it for both fiat and crypto currencies. Among fiat currencies, you can buy ZRX for USD, EUR, GBP, etc., whereas, among cryptocurrencies, the available trading pairs include USDT, BTC, ETH, and more.

As 0x protocol itself is an Ethereum-based decentralized exchange, you can buy ZRX, its native token, from 0x exchange. Alternatively, you can buy ZRX tokens from Binance as ZRX/USDT accounts for over 10% of the entire volume of ZRX tokens. Other options to buy ZRX include:

  • Binance
  • Coinbase
  • Gemini
  • Kraken
  • Huobi Global
  • Bitfinex
  • BitStamp

0x Frequently Asked Questions


As explained earlier as well, 0x is the open protocol, facilitating low friction, peer-to-peer exchange of tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. It involves products like 0x API, a liquidity aggregator, and Matcha by 0x, a global search engine for liquidity and markets.

ZRX is an ERC20 utility token that powers the 0x protocol. It allows staking and offers governance rights to its holders. Since 2019, ZRX holders also enjoy the facility of delegating their stake to a market maker to earn passive rewards without compromising their voting rights on the protocol improvement proposals.


The approximate return on ZRX investment, if purchased at the time of launch, is more than 917% at the time of publication. To give an idea of the spread of ZRX price, the coin recorded its all-time high at $2.53 nearly three years ago. Almost four years ago, the protocol had reached its all-time low at $0.104 on August 16, 2017. At the time of drafting this review, the 52-weeks low and high prices have been $0.3051 and $2.40.


With ZRX tokens, you can participate in the 0x staking pools and earn a yield of more than 100% APR in many cases. 0x had seven active staking pools at the time of drafting this review.


There is no substantial evidence leading us to believe 0x is bad for the environment.


The founders of 0x are Amir Bandeali and Will Warren, serving as the CTO and CEO of the company at present. The legal name of the organization is ZeroEx, Intl. It has backing from 24 investors.


Yes. ZRX is an ERC20 token. However, unlike many other Ethereum decentralized protocols, 0x supports both ERC20 and ERC-723 tokens.

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