Orderly DEX's Affiliate Program (Builder'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

Only DEXs with a valid Broker ID can enable the affiliate program. This applies to all DEXs built with SDK, API, and low-code solution powered by Orderly One. Builders must first graduate to obtain a Broker ID before they are eligible to enable the affiliate program.

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 bonus 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. Existing builders who have enabled the legacy affiliate program could choose to keep the legacy system or upgrade to the new one.

For new builders or existing builders who did not enable the legacy affiliate program:
- The new system will take place when the builders enable the affiliate program.
- The legacy system is not available.
For existing builders who enabled the legacy affiliate program, they can either:
- Keep the legacy affiliate program; or
- Upgrade to the new affiliate program which incorporates a multilevel referral structure. Please note that the upgrade is irreversible. All legacy referral codes remain valid and functional after the upgrade, but no legacy referral codes can be further created.

5. Referral commission structure

Builders configure the base commission

B

for direct referrals. They can optionally assign a custom bonus 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.

5.1 Builder’s margin

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

\text{Fee}_\text{Builder} = \text{TradingFee}_N - \text{BaseFee}_\text{Builder}

The builder’s margin from each trade within the multilevel referral network is determined after reserving base commission

B

and allocating bonus commission

M

to the

L_1

affiliate’s referral chain.

\text{Margin}_\text{Builder} = \text{Fee}_\text{Builder} \times (1 - X_1) = \text{Fee}_\text{Builder} \times (1 - B - M) = \big[\text{TradingFee}_N - \text{BaseFee}_\text{Builder}\big] \times (1 - B - M)

where

B

is the base commission,

M

is the bonus commission assigned to the

L_1

affiliate’s referral chain,

X_1 = B + M

, and

\text{BaseFee}_\text{Builder}

depends on the builder fee tier. Custom

X_1

cannot be lower than the base commission

B

and cannot exceed 100% of

\text{Fee}_\text{Builder}

5.2 Base commission

Base commission

B

is the minimum pass-down rate. It guarantees that each affiliate receives a commission share from trades executed by their direct referrals. Because base commission and the minimum pass-down rate are the same value, when a referrer sets a total commission rate

X

for a direct referral, that rate must be at least the base commission

B

. Any rate above

B

comes from the bonus commission

M

assigned to that referral chain. Builders configure the base commission rate

B

, which is the minimum pass-down rate, to establish the minimum guaranteed commission share each affiliate can earn from their direct referrals’ trades. We recommend starting with

B = 10\%

, or another value in the 5% to 10% range, because base commission guarantees referrer earnings from direct referrals and makes referral promotion easier to explain. Builders can then assign a custom

M

to each strategic affiliate when needed. Since

M

is bonus commission on top of base commission, changing

B

changes the top-level total commission rate

X_1 = B + M

unless

M

is adjusted.

5.3 Affiliate commission

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,

M

be the bonus commission assigned to the

L_1

affiliate’s referral chain, and

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]

. Affiliates can earn two types of commission:

Direct commission: earned when a direct referral trades. The direct referrer earns the total rate assigned to that referral path, including base commission $B$ plus any bonus commission passed down.
Indirect commission: earned when a downstream referral trades through the affiliate’s referral chain. For a given path, the affiliate earns the difference between their total rate and their direct child’s total rate.

For every trade executed by a user

(L_N)

on the DEX, the table below shows indirect commission for upstream affiliates and direct commission for the trader’s direct referrer:

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 bonus 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 builder)
$M = 40\%$ (bonus 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 bonus 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.

5.4 L1 affiliate commission rate adjustments

Admin console: https://admin.orderly.network/referral

5.4.1 Base commission

Builders configure base commission

B

, which is the minimum pass-down rate throughout the multilevel referral network, to guarantee each affiliate receives a commission share from trades executed by their direct referrals. Recommended starting point: set base commission to 10%, or choose a value between 5% and 10% depending on the builder’s growth strategy. A higher base commission gives every direct referrer a clearer guaranteed incentive. Builders can change base commission

B

at any time, but the 100% total commission cap must still be respected. If increasing

B

would cause any affected

L_1

affiliate’s total commission rate

X_1 = B + M

to exceed 100%, the action will be rejected. This includes

L_1

affiliates with high custom assigned rates: even if the custom rate was configured separately from the default rate, the base commission increase cannot push that affiliate’s total assigned rate above 100%.

5.4.2 Custom affiliate commission rate

After setting base commission

B

, builders can optionally assign a custom bonus commission

M

to individual strategic affiliates who work with the builder to grow the user base. The affiliate’s total top-level rate is

X_1 = B + M

, and the affiliate can redistribute part of that total rate down the chain subject to the base commission minimum pass-down rate.

Custom $X_1 = B + M$ cannot be lower than the base commission $B$ and cannot exceed 100%. $M$ must be equal to or greater than 0.
Builders can adjust $M$ up or down within the allowed range for their direct $L_1$ affiliates only. Builders cannot directly adjust $L_2$ or lower indirect affiliates.
If the rate is increased, only the adjusted $L_1$ affiliate receives the additional available allocation. Indirect affiliates are unchanged.
If the rate is decreased, the decrease is deducted from the adjusted $L_1$ affiliate’s earned commission first. If that affiliate cannot absorb the full decrease, the remaining decrease is deducted one level at a time down that affiliate’s referral chain until fully absorbed.
Already-settled historical commissions are not recalculated.

Example: Downward adjustment scenarios

Assume base commission

B

is 10%, so the minimum pass-down rate is 10%. The referral chain and total assigned rates before the adjustment are:

Builder -> L1 -> L2 -> L3 -> Trader

Node	Total assigned rate	Earned commission on this trade path
Builder	100%	10% builder margin
$L_1$ affiliate	90%	30% indirect commission, calculated as 90% - 60%
$L_2$ affiliate	60%	20% indirect commission, calculated as 60% - 40%
$L_3$ affiliate	40%	40% direct commission

Scenario 1: Builder lowers the

L_1

affiliate’s total assigned rate from 90% to 70%. The decrease is 20%. The

L_1

affiliate has 30% earned commission on this trade path, so the full decrease is absorbed by

L_1

Node	Total assigned rate after	Earned commission after
Builder	100%	30% builder margin
$L_1$ affiliate	70%	10% indirect commission
$L_2$ affiliate	60%	20% indirect commission
$L_3$ affiliate	40%	40% direct commission

Scenario 2: Builder lowers the

L_1

affiliate’s total assigned rate from 90% to 50%. The decrease is 40%. The

L_1

affiliate can absorb 30%, so the remaining 10% is deducted from the next downstream affiliate,

L_2

Node	Total assigned rate after	Earned commission after
Builder	100%	50% builder margin
$L_1$ affiliate	50%	0% indirect commission
$L_2$ affiliate	50%	10% indirect commission
$L_3$ affiliate	40%	40% direct commission

​1. Overview

​2. Prerequisites

​3. New vs. legacy affiliate programs

​4. Coexistence of legacy affiliate program

​5. Referral commission structure

​5.1 Builder’s margin

​5.2 Base commission

​5.3 Affiliate commission

​Example: 3-Level Referral Network

​5.4 L1 affiliate commission rate adjustments

​5.4.1 Base commission

​5.4.2 Custom affiliate commission rate