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Accounts and Subaccounts

Accounts and subaccounts serve as identifiers in the dYdX ecosystem.

Main Account

A (main) account is associated with a public-private keypair, and with a trader's on-chain identity.

  • Known publicly and associated with an address;
  • Holds tokens/assets that are sent to/from the chain, including tokens used for gas and collateral;
  • Gas for transactions is used from the main account;
  • Main accounts cannot trade;
  • Several main accounts can be derived from the same mnemonic phrase. Each user main account is completely independent and private/unlinkable from each other.

Subaccounts

Subaccounts provide a way to isolate funds and manage risk within an account. They are used to trade.

  • Each main account can have 128,001 subaccounts;
  • Each subaccount is uniquely identified using as subaccount ID of (main account address, integer);
  • Once you deposit funds to a valid subaccount ID, the subaccount will automatically be created;
  • Only the main account can send transactions on behalf of a subaccount;
  • Subaccounts do not require gas (no gas is used for trading);
  • Subaccounts require collateral token (currently USDC) in order to trade.