The DEX first conceived in the minds of Ethereum co-founders in 2014 finally comes to life today on Linea in the form of Etherex, a new kind of metaDEX designed to serve all of the Ethereum ecosystem.

• Etherex will offer the most efficient trades and best outcomes for token holders, traders and liquidity providers.  

• Etherex uses proprietary technology to bring fully liquid ve3,3 modelling to Linea.

• The REX33 token offers unparalleled token utility while earning and autocompounding and remaining fully liquid.

• Etherex enables the deep liquidity Linea will use to strengthen Ethereum and support its long-term growth.

The Ethereum ecosystem is evolving faster than ever before, with an estimated 50%+ of all non-Bitcoin digital assets, including 60% of stablecoins, 60% of all capital used in decentralized finance, and 80% of all tokenized “real world assets” living on Ethereum. New treasury companies are announced every week as the world progressively moves onchain.

Rollups are scaling Ethereum, and ZK-rollups are becoming the default path forward. 

Linea sits at the nexus of this growth.  And Etherex is going to be a key player in accelerating the Linea ecosystem while bolstering Ethereum as it becomes a key component of the global economy.

In this vital pursuit, Etherex brings a trio of important capabilities to Linea:

1. Deep native liquidity;

2. Incentive structures that support Ethereum’s long-term growth;

3. Smooth experiences for liquidity providers and users alike.

Introducing Etherex

Etherex is built in collaboration with Linea, Consensys and led by Kingdom, the team behind one of Linea’s earliest liquidity platforms, Nile Exchange. Nile is known for its community-led growth and deep focus on aligned tokenomics and incentive structures, made popular by Ramses v3 technology and adopted by projects like Shadow on Sonic. Etherex is also designed with the “metaDEX methodology” popularized by Velodrome. 

Etherex gives Linea a native venue to direct incentives, host $LINEA liquidity, and channel valuable emissions toward pools and pairs that are healthy for the broader ecosystem. In doing so, Etherex brings vibrant, sticky liquidity to Linea while staying true to Ethereum’s values.

How Etherex helps both Linea and Ethereum thrive

Smarter token design that rewards useful capital

Etherex addresses the challenge of building incentive structures that support Ethereum’s long-term growth through a native reward feature (details coming soon). It also uses a three-token system designed to reward liquidity in a way that is both flexible and aligned (see below).

Built-in MetaMask flow for seamless access

Etherex directly addresses the need for smooth experiences for liquidity providers and users alike. Etherex is natively integrated into MetaMask to become the default destination for swaps whenever it offers the best price, which it often will, thanks to its deep liquidity.

Liquidity providers benefit from steady volume and higher fees, while users enjoy best-in-class execution with no added complexity.

How Etherex works

Etherex is designed to work differently from most DEXs. At the heart of the protocol is the x(3,3) model—an evolved version of the metaDEX model that solved incentive alignment with all participants.

To understand why Etherex matters, we need to look at what came before. The metaDEX model has remained largely unchanged since Andre Cronje's first deployment. Modern implementations like Aerodrome Finance have proven metaDEX can achieve massive scale and sustainable revenue, but they rely on artificial restrictions to maintain participation. Long lock-ups created a high friction system that forced users to lock tokens for years just to participate equitably.

x(3,3) represents a fundamental reimagining—instead of forcing compliance through locks, it creates organic incentives where users want to stay because the system rewards active participation and naturally concentrates value among those who contribute most.

Here's how it works: 

With Etherex, there is no need to lock tokens for years. Users can buy or sell their voting positions instantly while still participating in the protocol’s growth. 

This is thanks to REX33—a liquid and autocompounding version of xREX that eliminates the friction from traditional metaDEX models. REX33 automatically votes each week using a mathematically optimized voting algorithm, converts rewards into xREX, and compounds them back into itself. This eliminates the need for users to actively manage their governance positions and offers a fully liquid way to exit without the need for secondary markets or vesting periods.

Users have the option to stake xREX or convert to liquid REX33 to vote on which liquidity pools should receive emissions and earn rewards for participating in voting. The emissions are directed by xREX holders, who assess which pools are driving the most fees or offering the best incentives. These pools are then rewarded with REX token emissions.

This creates a feedback loop where more effective liquidity generates better trading routes with lower slippage, which in turn increases trading fees that go back to xREX holders. But here's where x(3,3) gets interesting: when users exit their xREX positions early, 100% of the forfeited tokens are streamed to existing xREX stakers proportional to their positions. This exit rebase mechanism acts as both dilution protection and additional yield, creating powerful incentives to stay engaged without requiring lock-ups.

For liquidity providers, this means competing to supply the most efficient liquidity through concentrated liquidity and competitive farming. In return, they earn liquid REX tokens and benefit from a system optimized to maximize overall revenue across the protocol.

We’re just getting started. 

Early integrations, trading campaigns, and more are launching soon.

Welcome to Etherex, the next frontier of DeFi on Linea.

Stay tuned.