Darius Tabai aka HeavyD

⚒️ Co-founder @vertex_protocol 🏔|| Trading since 2004 || standup comic

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

Synchronous orderbook technology Edge (@poweredbyvertex )has gone from an idea to realisation in two months.

@AlwinPeng is capable of things many are not.

Out team showed beast level efforts to make this happen.

But what is Edge and why is it important?

🧵1/n

[Edge @EdgeLayer]

1/ Introducing Edge - Powered by Vertex ✨

Edge, is a game-changing Synchronous Orderbook Liquidity layer that unifies cross-chain liquidity in DeFi.

It’s time to unlock a multi-chain future where liquidity among chains is no longer fragmented...

🧵⤵️

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

I don’t know when the top will come BUT there will be signs…

[Joe Consorti @JoeConsorti]

MicroStrategy did it with cash. You can do it with your house.

Horizon lets you reallocate trapped equity into bitcoin, without monthly payments or new debt.

Extract the monetary premium on your home and siphon it into BTC.

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

I was going to write something… a lot easier if you read this.

[fiddy.dime - priv/acc 🦡 @fiddybps1]

"If a trader wants to trade massive size, one of the best things to do is tell the world beforehand."

This is a ludicrous claim and is a consequence of believing your own BS.

Jeff argues that making every whale order fully transparent on-chain actually improves their execution quality because

(a) market-makers see the flow, step in, and tighten spreads, and
(b) the public liquidation/stop prices don’t really put whales at risk.

Both are objectively wrong.

(1) Pre-trade transparency increases adverse-selection costs for large traders

Execution cost is a zero-sum game because market-makers are utility maximizing entities. And information is a cost that is factored into this spread. Every extra dollar a market-maker extracts in spread is a dollar the transacting side pays.

This is micro-structure 101.

When a dealer/market maker knows the true size of an order, they widen spreads to offset inventory and information risk. If size revelation were free, TWAP/VWAP algos and hidden-size (“iceberg”) orders wouldn’t exist.

By transmitting full-size, the whale ends up paying both the prevailing-spread and the follow-on impact as the book-reprices.

Hyperliquid publishes size, margin, even liquidation prices in real time. That removes every information advantage the whale has and is offering this up for free to the market makers. So either you:

(a) keep that advantage and trade at the prevailing spread OR
(b) you give it up and pay both the prevailing spread plus the follow-on price impact as the book re-prices.

Perfect transparency doesn’t eliminate spread—it simply transfers the cost of execution entirely onto the party showing size.

In fact you also see this behavior on the HL orderbook. Every time there is a large order at the TOB, you notice the other-side immediately thin out. You can observe this even without an algo. Just stare at the orderbook long enough.

(2) Transparency feeds other predatory and anticipatory traders further increasing the cost of transacting.

There is already a ton of empirical data and research on on “predatory trading,” “order-anticipation,” and MEV all document that when large flow is observable, other fast agents front-run or back-run it, extracting rents from the order-placing originator.

See Flash Boys 2.0 or this paper → https://t.co/THCyuEcMWH

(3) Public liquidation bands create new attack surfaces and invite “hunting”

Liquidation “hunts” are not hypothetical. Same logic as broadcasting size: information is a cost. If the world knows your liquidation price, you WILL get hunted. Ask @JamesWynnReal. Jeff knows this; spinning a known risk as a “feature” is pure narrative gymnastics.

(4) Tradfi market structure tells the opposite story

50% of U.S. equity volume now trades off-exchange or in dark pools precisely so institutions don't advertise size.

Icebergs, conditional blocks, and RFQ platforms like @tradeparadigm and @Tradeweb exist simply because big size and fully lit books don’t mix. Paradigm alone is 35% of Deribit’s daily volume—proof that large clips avoid the CLOB. We wouldn’t have a business if everything went to the lit book.

Retardio

Also note that in Tradfi regulators demand post-trade transparency for fairness, yet allow pre-trade opacity because it delivers better execution.

TLDR,
a) Transparent books are great for retail price discovery; they’re empirically worse for block execution. This is why @paradex will have both a CLOB and RFQs for large-block execution away from the orderbook.

b) 50-years of market-structure evolution, real-world behavior of institutional desks (dark pools, algos, hidden size) and the academic record on predatory trading, front-running and MEV all contradict Jeff’s arguments.

The more troubling thing is that yet another crypto founder is more than happy to bend facts to fit a self serving narrative.

@chameleon_jeff: "My exchange is transparent so therefore transparent exchanges are better"

@armaniferrante "I built a centralized exchange because it is easy so all exchanges are better and more secure" (lol😂)

Remember kids…..principles + truth > popularity.

[rektdiomedes @rektdiomedes]

Eleven: Another great @blocmates video

Of my good friends @DariusTabai and @jediblocmates meeting up in Vienna earlier this month and talking crypto + etc :)

https://t.co/zgevjxoFHs

12/x

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@blocmates 😘

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

I have done a fair bit of this kind of stuff...this was probably my favourite one in a very long time. Beers and a few laughs in Vienna = perfect!

Thanks for having me @blocmates

[blocmates. @blocmates]

We're seeing echoes of the tech boom in crypto's current direction, according to @DariusTabai.

Always good to catch up with the big man from @vertex_protocol, so we did last week at the @SonicLabs Summit in Vienna. 🇦🇹

This covers where we're heading from a market point of view, the Sonic FeeM model, issues the industry faces from a VC standpoint, inflated valuations, and why it's been so hard for retail this cycle.

@YouTube linked below. Enjoy!

///

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
00:14 Meet Darius from Vertex
01:10 Vertex Protocol Overview
02:13 Surviving the Market
03:00 Darius' Mindset and Experience
04:27 Market Predictions and Trends
07:33 What is Sonic's Fee Monetization Model?
09:14 Future of L1s and L2s
10:59 Conclusion

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@blocmates @Mikeblocmates Speak for yourself...CHEER UP @Mikeblocmates 😚

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@mideenigmA @blocmates @vertex_protocol @SonicLabs Reach out to @SonicAssistant - he can guide you to all you need to know!

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@alexblocmates Thanks for the t-shirt I now use for cleaning my bathroom.

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@jediblocmates I’m looking forward to seeing the interview - was a real pleasure!

[Melanie K @mel_vertex_]

@vertex_protocol we have the best merch, come find us at the #SonicSummit in Vienna 🇦🇹

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

Talking turkey at the @SonicLabs summit Wednesday. Hopefully see some of you there!

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@SonicAssistant @SonicLabs @SonicWorldHQ 🫡

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@rektdiomedes Next week my man. It’s incoming!

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

Rekt knows game

[rektdiomedes @rektdiomedes]

Vertex Protocol Updates - April 2025

🧵

Gm ya'll!

My bros at @vertex_protocol had another insanely bullish month!

Here is everything that's going on...

(cont.)...

1/x

[Avalanche🔺 @avax]

Avalanche’s DeFi stack is evolving to support scalable, capital-efficient trading.

@vertex_protocol has processed over $1B in trades, while @eulerfinance surpassed $190M in deposits with modular lending strategies. Tools like @Balancer V3 and @elixir’s DeUSD bring programmable liquidity and structured stablecoins to Avalanche’s ecosystem.

[Shelley @shelleymaeph]

@avax @BackedFi @eulerfinance @vertex_protocol @StableJack_xyz @ArrowMarkets @SeaFi_vaults @FortiFi_ 3/ @vertex_protocol

Decentralized derivatives with low-latency orderbook trading and cross-chain liquidity.

Why it matters: CEX-style trading in DeFi, perfect for traders craving speed and flexibility.
https://t.co/hmLs6zRHdn

[Darius Tabai aka HeavyD @DariusTabai]

@jediblocmates @vertex_protocol @blocmates @SonicLabs

[blocmates. @blocmates]

Pints in hand, followed by deep chats with the big brains from the ecosystem—it can’t get any better.

The @SonicLabs Summit madness is about to kick off, and we can already hear the clock ticking.

@DariusTabai from @vertex_protocol is all set to join us in Vienna for an interview. Get your pens and papers ready. It's gonna be all alpha, no noise.

[DeFiHawk @DeFi_hawk]

To Conclude the Analysis of Manus:

• Manus sees @vertex_protocol as the Perp DEX with the highest potential

• Their cross-chain integration and innovative approaches stands out from the rest

• Significant lower FDV compared to competitors (undervalued)

• Already more annualized fees than dydx and Apex, despite having more than 10x lower valuation

[NOTHING EVER PROFITS @NOPROFITZONE]

.@vertex_protocol on Sonic has generated ~$1m in fees to date - none of which goes to the team

They've also earned 21,917 $S from FeeM - all of which goes to the team.

No need for extractive fee structures when the chain rewards you directly.

Only on Sonic.