What is Hydration? How It Works & Where to Use It

Overview

Hydration at a glance.

Hydration is a DeFi-focused parachain on Polkadot that pools liquidity into a single Omnipool, so assets trade against one shared pool rather than many separate trading pairs, with the HDX token used for governance and protocol incentives. Here is how it works and what it is used for, not the price.

Total value locked (DeFi)

$55.0M

Value locked in DeFi protocols on Hydration. Updated Jun 8, 2026. Source: DefiLlama.

Native token

HDX

Used for fees and securing the network. See the live HDX price.

How it works

How Hydration works.

Hydration runs as a parachain built with the Polkadot SDK, so it does not run its own validator set. Instead it produces blocks as a parachain and inherits security from the Polkadot relay chain, which uses Nominated Proof of Stake. The chain rebranded from HydraDX to Hydration in 2024 after a community referendum, and blocks settle in roughly six seconds.

Consensus: Polkadot shared security

Hydration runs as a parachain built with the Polkadot SDK, so it does not run its own validator set. Instead it produces blocks as a parachain and inherits security from the Polkadot relay chain, which uses Nominated Proof of Stake. The chain rebranded from HydraDX to Hydration in 2024 after a community referendum, and blocks settle in roughly six seconds.

Omnipool

A single liquidity pool that every listed asset trades against, instead of separate pools for each pair, which concentrates liquidity in one place.

Parachain model

Hydration is a Polkadot parachain, so it shares the relay chain security and can connect with other parachains rather than running an isolated validator set.

HDX governance

Holding HDX grants voting power in the Hydration DAO, which decides protocol changes including whether an asset is added to the Omnipool through public referenda.

Cross-chain liquidity

Because it sits in the Polkadot ecosystem, Hydration can route assets and liquidity between connected chains through cross-chain messaging.

Ecosystem & usage

What Hydration is used for.

The Hydration ecosystem is built around its Omnipool and a set of DeFi features that serve the wider Polkadot network.

DefiLlama

Token swaps

Users trade assets against the shared Omnipool, with all listed tokens routed through one pool of liquidity.

Providing liquidity

Liquidity providers deposit assets into the Omnipool and earn a share of trading activity and incentives.

Lending and stable assets

Hydration adds DeFi features such as lending and a stable-asset module on top of its core trading hub.

Top protocols by TVL · updated Jun 8, 2026

Hydration Lending · Lending$28.6M

Hydration DEX · Dexs $26.4M

In Zypto App

Hold, swap and spend HDX.

Hydration is integrated in Zypto App. Hold HDX in self-custody, swap it to any supported asset, and use it across Zypto’s features.

Hold HDX in Zypto How to buy HDX

Be the reason Hydration ships next.

Hydration isn’t in Zypto App yet. Post the request to your followers, chains with the most demand get prioritised.

Request on X

FAQ

Common questions.

What is Hydration?

Hydration, formerly HydraDX, is a Layer 1 DeFi parachain on Polkadot built around the Omnipool, a single shared pool that all listed assets trade against. Its native token is HDX.

What consensus does Hydration use?

Hydration is a Polkadot parachain, so it does not run its own validators. It produces blocks as a parachain and inherits security from the Polkadot relay chain, which uses Nominated Proof of Stake.

What is the Omnipool?

The Omnipool is a single liquidity pool that every listed asset trades against, instead of a separate pool for each trading pair, which concentrates liquidity in one place.

What is the HDX token used for?

HDX is the governance and incentive token. Holding HDX grants voting power in the Hydration DAO, which decides protocol changes including which assets are added to the Omnipool.

Can I hold HDX in the Zypto App?

Not yet. HDX isn't in Zypto App at the moment. You can hold it in any self-custodial wallet, and you can ask us to add Hydration using the "Request Hydration" button above.

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