Nado Review 2026
About Nado
Nado is a non-custodial order book DEX that runs on Ink, the Ethereum Layer 2 built by Kraken, and offers perpetuals, spot trading, and money markets from one margin account. Nado opened as a private alpha in November 2025, moved to open beta on January 30, 2026, and removed invite codes with Season 2 on May 21, 2026. Orders are matched by an off-chain sequencer with 5 to 15 ms latency and settled in batches by contracts on Ink. The Nado API lists 77 tradable perpetual markets and 11 tradable spot pairs as of October 4, 2026 (5 more perpetuals and 2 spot pairs are listed but disabled), covering crypto, US stocks, FX pairs, gold, silver, and WTI oil. The Terms of Use dated August 26, 2026 name Spira Arc Inc. as the operator. Nado charges 0.035% taker and 0.01% maker at the entry tier (VIP 0) on perpetual and spot markets. Fees fall with 30-day volume across seven tiers, down to 0.015% taker and a 0.008% maker rebate at VIP 6, which requires 1 billion dollars of 30-day volume. FX perpetuals have their own schedule that starts at 0.007% taker and 0.002% maker. Maximum leverage in the live risk parameters is 50x on BTC and ETH, 40x on SOL and the three FX pairs, 20x on XRP, BNB and the large US stock perpetuals, and 2x to 10x on other markets. All perpetuals settle in USDT0. The unified margin account counts USDT0, USDC, wETH, kBTC, XAUT0, and tokenized xStocks as collateral, and deposits earn interest from the built-in money market. The NLP vault takes USDT0 deposits and runs liquidation and market-making strategies, with a 4-day lock on withdrawals. An insurance fund seeded by the team receives 50% of liquidation profits. Nado had about 128 million dollars of 24-hour perpetual volume on CoinGecko and 52.7 million dollars of TVL on DeFiLlama on October 4, 2026. A fee-share affiliate program pays 10% to 25% of referred users' net fees once activity thresholds are met.
KEY FACTS
- CUSTODY
- non-custodial
- TAKER FEE
- 0.035%
- MAX LEVERAGE
- 50x
- NETWORKS
- Ink
- KYC REQUIRED
- No
- FOUNDED
- 2025
Fee Structure
| MARKET | TAKER | MAKER |
|---|---|---|
| Perpetuals | 0.035% | 0.01% |
| Spot | 0.035% | 0.01% |
| Best Tier | 0.015% | -0.008% |
Leverage & Margin
Security
Pros & Cons
PROS
- + Base fees of 0.035% taker and 0.01% maker on perpetual and spot markets, falling to 0.015% taker and a 0.008% maker rebate at VIP 6 (1 billion dollars of 30-day volume)
- + One margin account covers perpetuals, spot, and lending: USDT0, USDC, wETH, kBTC, XAUT0, and tokenized xStocks such as SPYx and QQQx count as collateral, and deposits earn money market interest
- + 77 tradable perpetual markets in the Nado API (October 4, 2026), including US stock and ETF perpetuals such as NVDA, TSLA, SPY, and QQQ, three FX pairs, gold, silver, and WTI oil
- + FX perpetuals (EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY) cost 0.007% taker and 0.002% maker at the entry tier, with 40x leverage
- + No KYC: users connect a wallet on Ink and trade, and the insurance fund receives 50% of liquidation profits
CONS
- − The docs and the DeFiLlama listing show no published smart contract audit; the HackenProof bug bounty covers the web app only and pays 50 to 10,000 dollars per finding
- − View-only in the United States and Canada, and blocked in Panama, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Ukraine under the Terms of Use dated August 26, 2026 and the Restricted Territories page
- − Deposits work only on Ink, so funds from Ethereum, Arbitrum, or an exchange must first be bridged or withdrawn to Ink, and each USDT0 withdrawal costs 1 USDT0
- − 24-hour perpetual volume of about 128 million dollars and TVL of 52.7 million dollars (October 4, 2026) are small next to the largest perp DEXs, and 5 of the 82 perpetual markets in the API (ADA, AXS, BERA, SKR, VIRTUAL) are marked not tradable
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nado safe?
Nado is non-custodial: funds sit in smart contracts on Ink and only the account owner can trade or withdraw. An insurance fund seeded by the team takes 50% of liquidation profits. Nado has not published a smart contract audit report in its docs, and the HackenProof bug bounty pays up to 10,000 dollars for web issues.
What are Nado trading fees?
Nado charges 0.035% taker and 0.01% maker at VIP 0 on perpetual and spot markets. Fees drop with 30-day volume: 0.03% taker at 25 million dollars, and 0.015% taker with a 0.008% maker rebate at 1 billion dollars. FX perpetuals start at 0.007% taker. A USDT0 withdrawal costs 1 USDT0, and deposits are free.
Does Nado require KYC?
No, Nado does not require KYC. Users connect a wallet on the Ink network, deposit at least 5 dollars, and trade. Access is filtered by location instead: the interface is view-only in the United States and Canada and blocked in Panama, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Ukraine. The Terms of Use prohibit VPN use.
What leverage does Nado offer?
Nado allows up to 50x leverage on BTC and ETH perpetuals, based on the live risk parameters in its API. SOL and the three FX pairs allow 40x, XRP, BNB and large US stock perpetuals 20x, and most altcoins 10x or less. Spot margin goes up to 5x. Unified cross margin and isolated margin are both available.
What is the Nado referral program?
Nado pays affiliates a share of referred users' net trading fees. Level 0 pays 0%. Level 1 pays 10% and needs 3 active referred users, 2.5 million dollars of 30-day referral volume, and 200,000 dollars of personal volume. Level 4 pays 25%. Affiliates can pass part of the commission back to referees as a fee rebate.
Which blockchain does Nado run on?
Nado runs on Ink, an Ethereum Layer 2 built by Kraken on the OP Stack. An off-chain sequencer matches orders in 5 to 15 ms and the contracts on Ink settle them in batches. Deposits must come from an Ink wallet, so users bridge USDT0, USDC, or wETH with the USDT0 bridge, Superbridge, Bungee, or Relay.
What can I trade on Nado?
Nado lists 77 tradable perpetual markets as of October 2026: crypto such as BTC, ETH, SOL, and HYPE, US stocks and ETFs such as NVDA and SPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, gold, silver, and WTI oil. It also has 11 spot pairs against USDT0, including kBTC, wETH, XAUT0, and seven tokenized xStocks. The minimum order size is 100 USDT0.
Nado documentation (docs.nado.xyz): fees and rebates, FX perpetuals, referrals, liquidations, order types, products, Season 2, restricted territories · Nado public API (api.prod.nado.xyz gateway symbols and archive v2 contracts) · Nado Terms of Use, August 26, 2026 (nado.xyz/legal-docs/terms-of-use) · HackenProof bug bounty program page (hackenproof.com/programs/nado-web) · CoinGecko derivatives API · DeFiLlama API (TVL)