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EtherDelta

Token
0x8d12a197cb00...5ce2a5cc6819
Spurious DragonContract #30KSource VerifiedEdit this contract
Deployed February 10, 2017 (9 years ago)Block 3,154,196

The first major decentralized exchange on Ethereum, deployed February 9, 2017. Used off-chain signed orders with on-chain settlement to enable trustless ERC-20

Spurious Dragon EraVerified Source

Historical Significance

EtherDelta was the first decentralized exchange to achieve meaningful trading volume on Ethereum, and the primary venue for ERC-20 token trading during the 2017 ICO era. Its off-chain order / on-chain settlement design influenced subsequent DEX projects including 0x Protocol, IDEX, and eventually the automated market maker (AMM) model that Uniswap would pioneer. The SEC's 2018 enforcement action against its founder established a significant regulatory precedent for decentralized exchanges.

Context

EtherDelta launched in early 2017 as the ERC-20 token standard was gaining adoption and a wave of ICOs was beginning. At the time, trading newly-issued tokens required either listing on centralized exchanges (which had vetting processes and listing fees) or peer-to-peer over-the-counter trades. EtherDelta filled this gap by providing a permissionless trading venue accessible to anyone with a web3 wallet. The project appeared roughly six months after The DAO hack, during a period when the Ethereum ecosystem was rebuilding trust and demonstrating that smart contracts could enable real financial applications.

Key Facts
Deployment Block
3,154,196
Deployment Date
Feb 10, 2017, 03:50 AM
Code Size
6.5 KB
Gas at Deploy
1,901,944

Description

EtherDelta was the first widely-used decentralized exchange (DEX) on Ethereum, deployed at block 3,154,196 on February 9, 2017. It implemented a smart contract-based order book system that allowed users to trade ERC-20 tokens without trusting a centralized intermediary to custody their funds.

The contract architecture used a deposit/withdraw model: users deposited ETH or ERC-20 tokens into the EtherDelta smart contract, then signed orders off-chain. When two orders matched, a trade could be executed on-chain by calling the trade() function with both signatures. This hybrid approach — off-chain order relay with on-chain settlement — reduced gas costs while maintaining trustlessness. The contract also supported availableVolume() queries and included admin functions for fee adjustment.

Written in Solidity 0.4.9 with SafeMath protections, the contract source code was open-sourced on GitHub (github.com/etherdelta/smart_contract). The fee model charged a small percentage on trades, configurable by the admin address.

EtherDelta became the dominant venue for trading ERC-20 tokens during the 2017 ICO boom. For many newly-launched tokens, EtherDelta was the first — and sometimes only — exchange where they could be traded. Its simple web interface at etherdelta.com allowed anyone with MetaMask to trade tokens that had not yet been listed on centralized exchanges.

In December 2017, the etherdelta.com domain was hijacked via a DNS attack. Attackers redirected users to a phishing version of the site that drained funds from visitors who approved transactions. The smart contract itself was not compromised — the attack exploited the off-chain frontend.

In November 2018, the SEC charged EtherDelta's founder, Zachary Coburn, with operating an unregistered securities exchange (SEC Release No. 2018-258). Coburn settled the charges, paying a total of approximately $388,000 in disgorgement, penalties, and interest. This was the SEC's first enforcement action against a decentralized exchange operator.

Source Verified

Etherscan verified
Heuristic Analysis

The following characteristics were detected through bytecode analysis and may not be accurate.

Detected Type: Token
Has ERC-20-like patterns

Bytecode Overview

Opcodes6,613
Unique Opcodes239
Jump Instructions354
Storage Operations106

External Links