Bamboo Relay Overview
Bamboo Relay was a wallet-native decentralized exchange built on the 0x protocol, launched in 2017 by Joshua Richardson out of Australia. It combined wallet custody, advanced stop-loss with Chainlink oracles, and even margin via bZx. But as of now it’s entirely inactive - zero volume, no updates and no user support since early 2023.
What set Bamboo Relay apart
- Pure wallet-first architecture - no deposits, no custodial risk, trades direct from wallets.
- Competitive fees with makers at 0.10 percent and takers at 0.20 percent.
- Zero withdrawal fees beyond normal Ethereum gas costs.
- Chainlink-integrated stop-loss tools since 2020 - rare for DEXs of the time.
- Margin and lending support through bZx, giving DeFi power beyond simple swaps.
Why it shut down
- Volume dried up completely - no activity tracked across aggregators.
- Social channels and blog stopped posting by early 2023, indicating team exit.
- Marked as “dead” by major exchange trackers with no functional order books.
- Website remains online but acts as a relic - features exist visually but lack back-end support.
Legacy structure that still stands out
Even as a dormant platform, Bamboo Relay kept some notable points. The non-custodial model is still active at a basic level - you never lose wallet control. Fee logic was ahead of many peers, and if the relayer ever relaunched, its Chainlink stop-loss plus bZx lending would instantly place it ahead of typical small DEXs.
Who this is for now
Developers, DeFi historians or anyone studying early hybrid relayers will find Bamboo Relay an instructive stop. It showcased how DeFi could layer advanced tools on top of 0x architecture years before many competitors.
Who should skip
Active traders, yield hunters or anyone wanting a real decentralized trading venue today should absolutely avoid Bamboo Relay. It’s inactive, with no live markets, no support, and stands purely as an archived experiment.
Conclusion - clever DeFi that went dormant
Bamboo Relay’s history mixes wallet security, low fees, Chainlink stops and margin integration - all impressive. But without updates or liquidity since 2023, it’s firmly a DeFi footnote. Unless a new team revives it, treat it as a creative piece of crypto history, not a platform to execute trades.