Orderly DEX's Affiliate Program (Affiliate's Quick Guide)

1. Overview

Orderly adds a brand new affiliate programme that allows DEXs and their affiliates to configure referral commission sharing, including the base commission that guarantees earnings from direct referrals. The core model is a funneled and multilevel referral system:

Builders work with their direct affiliates to grow their trading platform, with attractive referral commissions for the direct affiliates to build their own multilevel referral networks.
Affiliates higher up the hierarchy can set higher commission sharing ratios and pass a portion of their commissions down to referees, subject to the base commission minimum pass-down rate.

2. Prerequisites

Any users can participate as affiliates, provided that the DEX activates the new affiliate program. In some cases, a trading volume requirement may be necessary. If a volume prerequisite is set, users must meet it to qualify as an affiliate and begin building their referral network. Since the required volume may vary between DEXs, users should confirm the specific prerequisites directly with the DEX they wish to join.

3. New vs. legacy affiliate programs

The key differences between the legacy and new affiliate programs are summarized below:

Details	Legacy	New
Referral network	Single-level, only direct referrals	Multilevel (up to 15 levels), direct and indirect referrals
Referral commission	Affiliates earn commissions from direct referees only	Affiliates earn commissions from both direct and indirect referees down the referral chain, with base commission guaranteed for direct referrals
Commission configuration	Single-level commission up to 100%, decided by builder	Builder configures base commission `B`, then optionally assigns additional multilevel referral commission `M` individually. The top-level total rate is `X_1 = B + M`.
Referral code creation	Created primarily by the builder or qualified affiliates upon meeting the applicable trading volume requirements.	Qualified affiliates can create codes after meeting the required trading volume (where applicable). Affiliates may only create one unique referral code.

4. Coexistence of legacy affiliate program

This new affiliate program is a multilevel referral system which supersedes the legacy affiliate program. DEXs who have enabled the legacy affiliate program could choose to keep the legacy system or upgrade to the new one. If you are already an existing affiliate, please check with your respective DEX directly for details regarding the activation of the new program. Once activated by the DEX, you will be able to generate a new referral code under this system. Please note that all existing legacy referral codes will remain active, and you will continue to earn commission from them.

5. Referral commission structure

DEXs configure the base commission

B

for direct referrals. They can optionally assign a custom additional multilevel referral commission

M

to each

L_1

affiliate, making that affiliate’s top-level total rate

X_1 = B + M

. These

L_1

affiliates are the initial referrers who establish a multilevel network and do not report to any referrer above them.

Note: Affiliate frontend wording and configuration controls may still use existing labels until a later frontend update; this guide introduces the base commission concept first.

5.1 Affiliate commission

Affiliates receive their referral commissions from the builder fees shared by DEXs. This commission is paid out for every trade executed on the DEX.

\text{(Fee)}_\text{Builder} = \text{(Trading fee)}_N - \text{(Base fee)}_\text{Builder}

where

\text{(Base fee)}_\text{Builder}

depends on the builder fee tier of the DEX.

L_1

affiliates may distribute a portion of their commission to their direct referees (

L_2

). This process can be extended further, as

L_2

affiliates can further sub-divide their allocation to their direct referees (

L_3

), establishing a multilevel structure. This multilevel referral network can extend up to a total of 15 levels. Let

B

be the base commission. It is the guaranteed commission rate a referrer earns from trades executed by their direct referrals. It is also the required minimum pass-down rate, so pass-down rates must be at least

B

. Let

M

be the additional multilevel referral commission assigned to the

L_1

affiliate’s referral chain, and let

X_i

be the total commission rate at level

i

. The top-level total rate is

X_1 = B + M

. Each downstream total rate must be between

B

and the upstream total rate, for example

X_2 \in [B, X_1]

. DEXs may assign different additional multilevel referral commission values

M

to strategic affiliates based on their growth strategy. Your available commission range depends on the total rate passed down from the referrer above you. For every trade executed by a user

(L_N)

on the DEX, the affiliates within the multilevel referral network can earn the following commission:

Role	Affiliate commission rate	Affiliate commission
$L_1$ affiliate	$X_1 - X_2$ where $X_2 \in [B, X_1]$	$(X_1 - X_2) \times \text{Fee}_\text{Builder}$
$L_2$ affiliate	$X_2 - X_3$ where $X_3 \in [B, X_2]$	$(X_2 - X_3) \times \text{Fee}_\text{Builder}$
$L_3$ affiliate	$X_3 - X_4$ where $X_4 \in [B, X_3]$	$(X_3 - X_4) \times \text{Fee}_\text{Builder}$
…	…	…
$L_{N-1}$ user (direct referrer)	$X_{N-1}$ where $X_{N-1} \in [B, X_{N-2}]$	$X_{N-1} \times \text{Fee}_\text{Builder}$ — Direct referrer earns base commission plus any remaining additional multilevel referral commission passed down

Note: Direct referrers earn the base commission rate from trades executed by their direct referrals.

Example: 3-Level Referral Network

Consider a trade where Builder revenue for a given trade = $100, with the following commission rates:

$B = 10\%$ (base commission configured by the DEX)
$M = 40\%$ (additional multilevel referral commission assigned by builder)
$X_1 = B + M = 50\%$ ( $L_1$ total rate)
$X_2 = 35\%$ ( $L_2$ total rate set by $L_1$ , where $X_2 \in [B, X_1]$ )
$X_3 = 25\%$ ( $L_3$ total rate set by $L_2$ , where $X_3 \in [B, X_2]$ )

Commission distribution for $100 Builder revenue:

Role	Calculation	Commission
$L_1$ affiliate	$(50\% - 35\%) \times 100$	$15
$L_2$ affiliate	$(35\% - 25\%) \times 100$	$10
$L_3$ affiliate (direct referrer)	$25\% \times 100$	$25
Total distributed		$50

In this example, when

L_4

(the trader) executes a trade,

L_3

earns

X_3 = 25\%

, which includes the

10\%

base commission plus

15\%

of the additional multilevel referral commission passed down the chain. The total distributed rate is

50\% = B + M

. The

L_4

trader does not earn commission from their own trade.

5.2 Referee’s commission rate adjustments

5.2.1 Default referee’s commission rate

Each referral code has a default commission rate for referees who use it to create an account on the DEX. The affiliate owning the code can update this rate, subject to the following rules:

If the code has no referees, the affiliate can freely adjust the default commission rate up or down, but any custom rate must be higher than the base commission and cannot exceed the upstream total rate available to the affiliate.
If the code has direct referees, the affiliate may only increase the default commission rate, applying changes to all direct referees on that rate. This restriction protects existing referrals and prevents unfavourable downstream changes.

5.2.2 Custom referee’s commission rate

Affiliates may customize a higher commission rate to overwrite the default rate for any direct referees, but any custom rate must be higher than the base commission and cannot exceed the upstream total rate available to the affiliate.

Documentation Index

​1. Overview

​2. Prerequisites

​3. New vs. legacy affiliate programs

​4. Coexistence of legacy affiliate program

​5. Referral commission structure

​5.1 Affiliate commission

​Example: 3-Level Referral Network

​5.2 Referee’s commission rate adjustments

​5.2.1 Default referee’s commission rate

​5.2.2 Custom referee’s commission rate