Arcus and Entropy are two new perpetual DEX platforms gaining attention among traders and airdrop farmers. Both offer markets beyond regular crypto assets, including stocks and other real-world assets, but they are taking very different approaches.
Arcus is building a standalone exchange ecosystem on Robinhood Chain with the team behind dYdX. Entropy operates as a HIP-3 market deployer using Hyperliquid’s existing trading infrastructure.
For users deciding where to spend their time and trading capital, the short answer is simple: Arcus should currently be the first priority, while Entropy is an earlier and more speculative opportunity worth farming alongside it.
Information and platform data in this article were checked on August 30, 2026.
Arcus vs Entropy: Quick comparison
| Feature | Arcus | Entropy |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Robinhood Chain | Hyperliquid through HIP-3 |
| Team and backing | Team behind dYdX, in partnership with Robinhood Crypto | Raised $14 million led by Ribbit Capital |
| Main markets | Stocks, indices, commodities and crypto | Equities and pre-IPO markets |
| Perps access | Beta access rolling out in cohorts | Open trading interface |
| Farming signals | Spot volume, past perp activity and referrals | Referrals live and Leaderboard coming soon |
| Cumulative perp volume | About $2.03 billion | About $352.7 million |
| Open interest | About $13.6 million | About $10.7 million |
> Join Arcus Waitlist
> Join Entropy
Volume and open-interest figures are from DefiLlama and will change continuously.
What is Arcus?
Arcus is a self-custodial exchange built by the team behind dYdX in partnership with Robinhood Crypto. It lets users trade Stock Tokens on the spot market and perpetual futures covering equities, crypto, commodities and indices.
The platform operates 24/7 and supports leverage of up to 50x, although the maximum differs by market. Arcus is also developing a broader ecosystem around Stock Tokens, perpetual markets, tokenized perp positions called pTokens and multi-asset collateral.
How can users build activity on Arcus?
Arcus perps access is still being released gradually. However, users on the waitlist can already build an account history through spot trading. According to Arcus’ official announcement, three activities can improve a user’s waitlist position:
- Trading Stock Tokens through Arcus Spot.
- Connecting wallets with previous perp trading history.
- Referring other validated traders.
Arcus Spot volume is counted retroactively from launch, giving users without perps access a way to establish an early account history. Spot trading currently carries no platform fee. Arcus also has zero maker fees for perpetual trades through Tier 4 during beta. The base taker fee is 0.0225%, with lower rates and maker rebates available at higher volume tiers. The complete schedule is available in the official Arcus beta fee announcement.
What is Entropy?
Entropy is a HIP-3 market deployer operating on Hyperliquid. Instead of building its own matching engine and settlement network, it uses Hyperliquid’s order book, margin system and onchain settlement while creating its own markets, oracle designs and interface. The project announced a $14 million funding round led by Ribbit Capital, along with a $40 million HYPE stake intended to support new markets.
Entropy’s most unusual product is io:ANTH, a perpetual contract tracking Anthropic’s implied private-market valuation. It also operates io:SNDK, which provides perpetual exposure to Sandisk. Despite being newer and having only two Entropy-deployed markets when checked, DefiLlama showed approximately $352.7 million in cumulative perp volume and about $10.7 million in open interest.
Does Entropy have a points program?
Entropy’s interface already has separate sections for Referrals and a Leaderboard. Referral rewards and cashback are available on eligible Entropy markets, while the Leaderboard page currently displays “Coming Soon.”
A detailed public formula explaining how the Leaderboard will work or which activities will receive the most weight has not yet been published. This gives early users time to establish an account history before the Leaderboard becomes active.
The important Entropy detail farmers should understand
The Entropy interface displays many markets from across Hyperliquid, but most are operated by other HIP-3 deployers. At the time of writing, the two Entropy-specific markets were:
io:ANTHio:SNDK
Trading another market through the Entropy interface may still create Hyperliquid activity, but it should not automatically be treated as Entropy-specific farming. Users trying to build a direct Entropy history should prioritize markets carrying the io: deployer prefix and verify that Entropy operates the market. Entropy earns protocol revenue from its own HIP-3 markets, not every market displayed through its frontend.
Which platform should users prioritize?
Why Arcus should be the primary priority
Arcus has the stronger overall platform thesis. It is being built by an experienced exchange team, has a direct Robinhood partnership and is positioned as an important application on Robinhood Chain. It is also building its own wider trading ecosystem rather than functioning only as a market deployer on another venue. The platform has clearly stated that spot volume, previous perp activity and validated referrals influence perps access.
Once admitted, users can build both spot and perpetual trading history on the same platform. The main disadvantage is that perps access is still being released by cohort.
Why Entropy is still worth farming early
Entropy is newer and potentially offers a more asymmetric early-user opportunity. It has meaningful funding, strong initial volume and visible referral and Leaderboard infrastructure. Existing Hyperliquid traders can also begin using it without learning a completely new trading and margin system. However, its native market selection remains narrow and the ANTH market carries additional oracle and liquidity considerations because Anthropic has no continuously traded public share price.
Suggested farming priority
For users who want to establish activity on both platforms, a reasonable split would be:
- 60–70% priority toward Arcus.
- 30–40% priority toward Entropy.
Arcus receives the higher priority because of its team, Robinhood partnership, wider ecosystem and clearer long-term platform opportunity. Entropy deserves a smaller allocation because it is extremely early and has an upcoming Leaderboard, but its native product selection is still limited.
What to do without Arcus perps access
- Join the Arcus perps waitlist.
- Connect the wallet you intend to use.
- Build genuine Stock Token spot activity.
- Connect relevant previous trading wallets that belong to you if the platform allows it.
- Refer genuine traders interested in the platform.
- Use Entropy for smaller perp activity while waiting.
What to do after receiving Arcus perps access
Once Arcus perps access becomes available, most activity can be directed toward Arcus. Limit orders may be more cost-efficient because maker fees are currently zero through Tier 4 during beta. Entropy can still be used periodically to establish activity before its Leaderboard becomes active. Consistent genuine activity across different weeks may create a better account history than forcing a large amount of repetitive volume in one day.
Risks to understand
Arcus currently uses cross margin for perpetual positions, meaning losses from one position can affect the collateral supporting other positions in the account. Entropy’s pre-IPO market carries additional oracle and liquidity risks because there is no continuously traded public-market price for the underlying company.
On both platforms, high leverage can quickly cause losses through funding, slippage or liquidation. A more controlled approach uses smaller positions, liquid trading hours and genuine activity instead of trading only to manufacture volume.
The bottom line
Arcus should currently be the first priority for users choosing between the two platforms.
It has the stronger team history, a direct Robinhood partnership, a wider product ecosystem and more clearly tracked forms of early activity. Even users without perps access can trade Stock Tokens and improve their waitlist position.
Entropy should be considered the secondary early-stage farm.
Its rapid initial growth, funding and upcoming Leaderboard make it worth establishing some activity before participation becomes more crowded. Users should focus on Entropy-deployed io: markets rather than assuming every market displayed on its interface contributes equally. If time and capital are limited, focus on Arcus. If both can be used responsibly, maintain the larger activity footprint on Arcus and a smaller early footprint on Entropy.
This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Perpetual futures use leverage and can result in rapid losses or liquidation.
