gmx-liquidity

GMX Liquidity Skill

Overview

GMX V2 has two liquidity layers that back perpetual and spot trading:

• GM Pools — Single-market liquidity pools. Each GM pool backs one market (e.g., ETH/USD) and is composed of a long token and short token. Depositing mints GM tokens (LP tokens); withdrawing burns them.
• GLV Vaults (GMX Liquidity Vaults) — Multi-market vaults that hold multiple GM tokens and auto-rebalance across constituent pools. Depositing mints GLV tokens; withdrawing burns them.

Supported chains:

Chain	Chain ID	Native Token	GLV Vaults
Arbitrum	42161	ETH	Yes
Avalanche	43114	AVAX	Yes
Botanix	3637	BTC	No (contracts deployed, no vaults configured)

Execution model: All write operations use a two-step async pattern:

1. User creates a request (deposit/withdrawal/shift) via ExchangeRouter or GlvRouter multicall
2. Keeper executes the request with oracle prices (typically 1–30 seconds later)

The user pays an execution fee (in native token) upfront to cover keeper gas costs. Excess fee is refunded.

Integration paths:

• SDK (@gmx-io/sdk) — Read pool data, balances, and market info. Write operations (deposit/withdraw) are not yet in the SDK.
• Contract-level (viem) — Full read + write via ExchangeRouter.multicall() and GlvRouter.multicall().

This skill complements gmx-trading which covers perpetual trading and swaps.

GM Pools

Each GM pool is a pair of tokens backing a specific market:

• Long token — The asset (e.g., WETH for ETH/USD)
• Short token — The stablecoin (e.g., USDC)
• GM token — The LP token representing a share of the pool

Deposits can be:

• Balanced — Deposit both long and short tokens proportionally. Lower fees (helps balance the pool).
• Single-sided — Deposit only one token. The protocol swaps a portion internally. Higher fees if it imbalances the pool.

Withdrawals burn GM tokens and return the underlying long and short tokens. A withdrawal can specify minLongTokenAmount and minShortTokenAmount for slippage protection.

Pricing: GM token price = pool value / GM token supply. Pool value is the sum of long and short token values at oracle prices plus accrued PnL.

GM pool addresses are dynamic — discover them via sdk.markets.getMarkets().

GLV Vaults

GLV vaults hold multiple GM tokens and auto-rebalance across markets:

Known GLV vaults (source: sdk/src/configs/markets.ts):

Chain	Vault	Long Token	Short Token	Address
Arbitrum	GLV [WETH-USDC]	WETH	USDC	0x528A5bac7E746C9A509A1f4F6dF58A03d44279F9
Arbitrum	GLV [WBTC-USDC]	WBTC	USDC	0xdF03EEd325b82bC1d4Db8b49c30ecc9E05104b96
Avalanche	GLV [WAVAX-USDC]	WAVAX	USDC	0x901eE57f7118A7be56ac079cbCDa7F22663A3874

Deposit modes:

• Raw tokens — Deposit long/short tokens. The vault creates a GM deposit into the selected constituent market, then deposits the resulting GM tokens into the GLV.
• GM tokens — Deposit existing GM tokens directly (isMarketTokenDeposit: true). Skips the intermediate deposit step.

Withdrawals burn GLV tokens. The vault withdraws from the specified constituent market and returns the underlying long/short tokens.

Reading Pool Data (SDK)

Use sdk.markets.getMarketsInfo() to query all pool data:

const { GmxSdk } = require("@gmx-io/sdk");

const sdk = new GmxSdk({
  chainId: 42161,
  rpcUrl: "https://arb1.arbitrum.io/rpc",
  oracleUrl: "https://arbitrum-api.gmxinfra.io",
  subsquidUrl: "https://gmx.squids.live/gmx-synthetics-arbitrum:prod/api/graphql",
});

const { marketsInfoData, tokensData } = await sdk.markets.getMarketsInfo();

// Find a specific pool
const ethPool = Object.values(marketsInfoData).find(
  (m) => tokensData[m.indexTokenAddress]?.symbol === "WETH" && !m.isSpotOnly
);

// Pool liquidity data
console.log("Long pool:", ethPool.longPoolAmount);       // Long token amount in pool
console.log("Short pool:", ethPool.shortPoolAmount);      // Short token amount in pool
console.log("Pool value (max):", ethPool.poolValueMax);   // Total pool value USD
console.log("Pool value (min):", ethPool.poolValueMin);

// Pool capacity
console.log("Max long:", ethPool.maxLongPoolAmount);      // Max long token capacity
console.log("Max short:", ethPool.maxShortPoolAmount);     // Max short token capacity

// GM token address
console.log("Market token:", ethPool.marketTokenAddress);

Check GM token balances:

const { tokensData } = await sdk.tokens.getTokensBalances();
// GM tokens appear as regular tokens — filter by market token addresses

List all pools:

const { marketsInfoData, tokensData } = await sdk.markets.getMarketsInfo();

for (const market of Object.values(marketsInfoData)) {
  const indexSymbol = tokensData[market.indexTokenAddress]?.symbol ?? "SPOT";
  const longSymbol = tokensData[market.longTokenAddress]?.symbol;
  const shortSymbol = tokensData[market.shortTokenAddress]?.symbol;
  console.log(`${indexSymbol}: ${longSymbol}/${shortSymbol} — Pool: ${market.poolValueMax}`);
}

Reading Pool Data (REST / GraphQL)

REST API — Get market info including pool sizes:

GET https://arbitrum-api.gmxinfra.io/markets/info

Returns extended market data including pool sizes, utilization, open interest, and fee factors.

GraphQL (Subsquid) — Query historical deposit/withdrawal events:

Chain	Endpoint
Arbitrum	https://gmx.squids.live/gmx-synthetics-arbitrum:prod/api/graphql
Avalanche	https://gmx.squids.live/gmx-synthetics-avalanche:prod/api/graphql
Botanix	https://gmx.squids.live/gmx-synthetics-botanix:prod/api/graphql

Prerequisites for Write Operations

Before calling ExchangeRouter.multicall() or GlvRouter.multicall():

1. Token approvals:

• For all operations (GM and GLV): approve tokens to SyntheticsRouter
• This applies to GM deposits/withdrawals/shifts via ExchangeRouter and GLV deposits/withdrawals via GlvRouter

// Approve USDC to SyntheticsRouter (works for both GM and GLV operations)
await usdcContract.write.approve([syntheticsRouterAddress, amount]);

2. Default parameter values:

callbackContract: zeroAddress,   // No callback
callbackGasLimit: 0n,            // No callback gas
dataList: [],                     // Reserved for future use
uiFeeReceiver: zeroAddress,      // No UI fee (set to your address if building a frontend)

3. Native token handling: When depositing the wrapped native token (WETH on Arbitrum, WAVAX on Avalanche, PBTC on Botanix) and shouldUnwrapNativeToken is true, add the deposit amount to the sendWnt call value instead of using sendTokens. The sendWnt call wraps native token automatically.

// If depositing ETH (native) on Arbitrum:
const wntAmount = executionFee + longTokenAmount; // execution fee + deposit amount
// Use sendWnt for the full amount, skip sendTokens for the long token

4. Slippage: Apply slippage client-side before passing to the contract:

// Apply 0.3% slippage to minimum output
const minMarketTokens = expectedMarketTokens * 997n / 1000n;

Execution Fee Calculation

All operations require an execution fee in native token. The formula is the same for all operations:

estimatedGasLimit = (per-operation formula)
oraclePriceCount = (per-operation formula)

// adjustGasLimitForEstimate (mirrors contract logic)
gasLimit = estimatedGasFeeBaseAmount
         + (estimatedGasFeePerOraclePrice × oraclePriceCount)
         + applyFactor(estimatedGasLimit, estimatedFeeMultiplierFactor)

executionFee = gasLimit × gasPrice

Per-operation formulas:

Operation	estimatedGasLimit	oraclePriceCount
GM Deposit	depositToken + swaps × singleSwap	3 + swapsCount
GM Withdrawal	withdrawalMultiToken + swaps × singleSwap	3 + swapsCount
Shift	shift	4
GLV Deposit (raw tokens)	glvDepositGasLimit + markets × glvPerMarketGasLimit + depositToken + swaps × singleSwap	2 + marketsCount + swapsCount
GLV Deposit (GM tokens)	glvDepositGasLimit + markets × glvPerMarketGasLimit	2 + marketsCount
GLV Withdrawal	glvWithdrawalGasLimit + markets × glvPerMarketGasLimit + withdrawalMultiToken + swaps × singleSwap	2 + marketsCount + swapsCount

Important: marketsCount for GLV operations. GLV vaults contain many constituent GM markets — GLV [WETH-USDC] on Arbitrum has 40+ markets. The contract validates the execution fee against the actual constituent count, and reverts with InsufficientExecutionFee if too low. The SDK does not expose a method to query the GLV constituent market count. Use these values:

GLV Vault	Chain	Recommended marketsCount
GLV [WETH-USDC]	Arbitrum	53
GLV [WBTC-USDC]	Arbitrum	53
GLV [WAVAX-USDC]	Avalanche	20

Excess execution fee is always refunded, so overestimating marketsCount is safe. GLV execution fees are typically ~0.001 ETH — roughly 10x higher than GM operations (~0.0001 ETH) due to the large number of constituent markets.

Using the SDK to get gas parameters:

const gasLimits = await sdk.utils.getGasLimits();
const gasPrice = await sdk.utils.getGasPrice();

// --- Per-operation gas limit field names from sdk.utils.getGasLimits() ---
// GM Deposit:       gasLimits.depositToken
// GM Withdrawal:    gasLimits.withdrawalMultiToken
// Shift:            gasLimits.shift
// GLV per-market:   gasLimits.glvPerMarketGasLimit
// GLV Deposit:      gasLimits.glvDepositGasLimit
// GLV Withdrawal:   gasLimits.glvWithdrawalGasLimit
// Swap (per swap):  gasLimits.singleSwap
// Base fee fields:  gasLimits.estimatedGasFeeBaseAmount,
//                   gasLimits.estimatedGasFeePerOraclePrice,
//                   gasLimits.estimatedFeeMultiplierFactor

function calculateExecutionFee(estimatedGasLimit: bigint, oraclePriceCount: bigint): bigint {
  let gasLimit = gasLimits.estimatedGasFeeBaseAmount;
  gasLimit += gasLimits.estimatedGasFeePerOraclePrice * oraclePriceCount;
  gasLimit += estimatedGasLimit * gasLimits.estimatedFeeMultiplierFactor / 10n ** 30n;
  return gasLimit * gasPrice;
}

// Example: GM deposit (no swaps)
const gmDepositFee = calculateExecutionFee(gasLimits.depositToken, 3n);

// Example: GLV deposit (raw tokens, 53 markets, no swaps)
const marketsCount = 53n;
const glvDepositGas = gasLimits.glvDepositGasLimit
  + marketsCount * gasLimits.glvPerMarketGasLimit
  + gasLimits.depositToken;
const glvDepositFee = calculateExecutionFee(glvDepositGas, 2n + marketsCount);

Depositing into GM Pools

Use ExchangeRouter.multicall() to batch send tokens + create deposit in one transaction:

import { encodeFunctionData, zeroAddress } from "viem";

const exchangeRouterAddress = "0x1C3fa76e6E1088bCE750f23a5BFcffa1efEF6A41"; // Arbitrum
const depositVaultAddress = "0xF89e77e8Dc11691C9e8757e84aaFbCD8A67d7A55";   // Arbitrum

// Step 1: Approve tokens to SyntheticsRouter (one-time)
// await longToken.write.approve([syntheticsRouterAddress, longTokenAmount]);
// await shortToken.write.approve([syntheticsRouterAddress, shortTokenAmount]);

// Step 2: Build multicall
const wntAmount = executionFee; // Add longTokenAmount if depositing native token

const multicall = [
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendWnt",
    args: [depositVaultAddress, wntAmount],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendTokens",
    args: [longTokenAddress, depositVaultAddress, longTokenAmount],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendTokens",
    args: [shortTokenAddress, depositVaultAddress, shortTokenAmount],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "createDeposit",
    args: [{
      addresses: {
        receiver: account.address,
        callbackContract: zeroAddress,
        uiFeeReceiver: zeroAddress,
        market: marketTokenAddress,         // GM pool address
        initialLongToken: longTokenAddress,
        initialShortToken: shortTokenAddress,
        longTokenSwapPath: [],
        shortTokenSwapPath: [],
      },
      minMarketTokens: minGmTokensOut,      // Apply slippage
      shouldUnwrapNativeToken: false,
      executionFee: executionFee,
      callbackGasLimit: 0n,
      dataList: [],
    }],
  }),
];

// Step 3: Send transaction
const hash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: exchangeRouterAddress,
  abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
  functionName: "multicall",
  args: [multicall],
  value: wntAmount,
});

Native token deposits: If depositing WETH/WAVAX/PBTC with shouldUnwrapNativeToken: true, add the deposit amount to wntAmount (executionFee + longTokenAmount) and skip the sendTokens call for that token. The sendWnt call wraps native ETH/AVAX/BTC automatically.

Withdrawing from GM Pools

const withdrawalVaultAddress = "0x0628D46b5D145f183AdB6Ef1f2c97eD1C4701C55"; // Arbitrum

// Approve GM tokens to SyntheticsRouter first
// await gmToken.write.approve([syntheticsRouterAddress, marketTokenAmount]);

const multicall = [
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendWnt",
    args: [withdrawalVaultAddress, executionFee], // Only execution fee, no deposit
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendTokens",
    args: [marketTokenAddress, withdrawalVaultAddress, marketTokenAmount], // GM tokens
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "createWithdrawal",
    args: [{
      addresses: {
        receiver: account.address,
        callbackContract: zeroAddress,
        uiFeeReceiver: zeroAddress,
        market: marketTokenAddress,
        longTokenSwapPath: [],
        shortTokenSwapPath: [],
      },
      minLongTokenAmount: minLongOut,       // Apply slippage
      minShortTokenAmount: minShortOut,     // Apply slippage
      shouldUnwrapNativeToken: true,        // Unwrap WETH to ETH on receive
      executionFee: executionFee,
      callbackGasLimit: 0n,
      dataList: [],
    }],
  }),
];

const hash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: exchangeRouterAddress,
  abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
  functionName: "multicall",
  args: [multicall],
  value: executionFee,
});

GLV Deposits

Use GlvRouter.multicall() (not ExchangeRouter):

const glvRouterAddress = "0x7EAdEE2ca1b4D06a0d82fDF03D715550c26AA12F";  // Arbitrum
const glvVaultAddress = "0x393053B58f9678C9c28c2cE941fF6cac49C3F8f9";   // Arbitrum

// Approve tokens to SyntheticsRouter (same as GM operations)

const multicall = [
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: glvRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendWnt",
    args: [glvVaultAddress, wntAmount],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: glvRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendTokens",
    args: [longTokenAddress, glvVaultAddress, longTokenAmount],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: glvRouterAbi,
    functionName: "createGlvDeposit",
    args: [{
      addresses: {
        glv: glvTokenAddress,                // GLV vault address
        market: constituentMarketAddress,    // Which GM market to deposit through
        receiver: account.address,
        callbackContract: zeroAddress,
        uiFeeReceiver: zeroAddress,
        initialLongToken: longTokenAddress,
        initialShortToken: shortTokenAddress,
        longTokenSwapPath: [],
        shortTokenSwapPath: [],
      },
      minGlvTokens: minGlvTokensOut,        // Note: minGlvTokens, not minMarketTokens
      executionFee: executionFee,
      callbackGasLimit: 0n,
      shouldUnwrapNativeToken: false,
      isMarketTokenDeposit: false,           // true if depositing GM tokens directly
      dataList: [],
    }],
  }),
];

const hash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: glvRouterAddress,
  abi: glvRouterAbi,
  functionName: "multicall",
  args: [multicall],
  value: wntAmount,
});

Depositing GM tokens directly: Set isMarketTokenDeposit: true and send GM tokens to GlvVault instead of long/short tokens. This skips the intermediate GM deposit step and uses less gas.

GLV Withdrawals

// Approve GLV tokens to SyntheticsRouter first

const multicall = [
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: glvRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendWnt",
    args: [glvVaultAddress, executionFee],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: glvRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendTokens",
    args: [glvTokenAddress, glvVaultAddress, glvTokenAmount], // GLV tokens
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: glvRouterAbi,
    functionName: "createGlvWithdrawal",
    args: [{
      addresses: {
        receiver: account.address,
        callbackContract: zeroAddress,
        uiFeeReceiver: zeroAddress,
        market: constituentMarketAddress,    // Which GM market to withdraw from
        glv: glvTokenAddress,
        longTokenSwapPath: [],
        shortTokenSwapPath: [],
      },
      minLongTokenAmount: minLongOut,
      minShortTokenAmount: minShortOut,
      shouldUnwrapNativeToken: true,
      executionFee: executionFee,
      callbackGasLimit: 0n,
      dataList: [],
    }],
  }),
];

const hash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: glvRouterAddress,
  abi: glvRouterAbi,
  functionName: "multicall",
  args: [multicall],
  value: executionFee,
});

Shift Operations

Shifts move GM tokens from one pool to another atomically — without withdrawing first. Lower fees than manual withdraw + deposit.

const shiftVaultAddress = "0xfe99609C4AA83ff6816b64563Bdffd7fa68753Ab"; // Arbitrum

// Approve from-market GM tokens to SyntheticsRouter first

const multicall = [
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendWnt",
    args: [shiftVaultAddress, executionFee],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "sendTokens",
    args: [fromMarketTokenAddress, shiftVaultAddress, fromMarketTokenAmount],
  }),
  encodeFunctionData({
    abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
    functionName: "createShift",
    args: [{
      addresses: {
        receiver: account.address,
        callbackContract: zeroAddress,
        uiFeeReceiver: zeroAddress,
        fromMarket: fromMarketTokenAddress,
        toMarket: toMarketTokenAddress,
      },
      minMarketTokens: minToMarketTokens,  // Apply slippage
      executionFee: executionFee,
      callbackGasLimit: 0n,
      dataList: [],
    }],
  }),
];

const hash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: exchangeRouterAddress,
  abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
  functionName: "multicall",
  args: [multicall],
  value: executionFee,
});

Note: CreateShiftParams does not have a shouldUnwrapNativeToken field (unlike deposit/withdrawal).

Cancelling Pending Operations

If a request hasn't been executed by a keeper yet, the creator can cancel it using the request key (bytes32) returned by the create function:

Via ExchangeRouter:

await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: exchangeRouterAddress,
  abi: exchangeRouterAbi,
  functionName: "cancelDeposit",    // or cancelWithdrawal, cancelShift
  args: [requestKey],
});

Via GlvRouter:

await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: glvRouterAddress,
  abi: glvRouterAbi,
  functionName: "cancelGlvDeposit",  // or cancelGlvWithdrawal
  args: [requestKey],
});

Cancellation refunds tokens to the receiver address. Only the account that created the request can cancel it.

Fees

Deposit/withdrawal fees: Same balancing incentive model as swap fees. Deposits that balance the pool (move it closer to 50/50) pay lower fees. Deposits that imbalance the pool pay higher fees. The fee is deducted from the minted GM/GLV tokens.

Execution fees: Paid in native token upfront. Covers keeper gas costs. Calculated using the formula in the Execution Fee Calculation section. Excess fee is refunded to the receiver.

Limitations

• SDK write operations: @gmx-io/sdk does not yet expose convenience methods for deposit/withdraw/shift. Use contract-level multicall as shown above.
• APY: Not directly exposed via API. Derived client-side from trading fees, borrowing rates, and funding rates flowing through each pool.
• GLV on Botanix: GLV contracts are deployed on Botanix but no vaults are configured yet. GM pool operations work on all three chains.
• Multichain deposits: Cross-chain deposits (from a different chain via LayerZero) are not covered in this skill.
• Atomic withdrawals: ExchangeRouter.executeAtomicWithdrawal() exists but requires oracle price params — intended for advanced/keeper use.

References

• Liquidity Operations Reference — Contract structs, flows, gas formulas, GLV addresses
• Contract Addresses — All deployed contracts per chain (shared with gmx-trading)
• SDK Reference — SDK module and method documentation (shared with gmx-trading)
• API Endpoints — Oracle, OpenAPI, and GraphQL endpoints (shared with gmx-trading)
• GMX Documentation — Official protocol documentation
• GMX App — Pools — GM pool interface
• GMX App — Vaults — GLV vault interface
• @gmx-io/sdk on npm — SDK package