What’s Better Than CEX? DEX

When it comes to trading memecoins, clip is wealth — and waiting connected a centralized speech (CEX) could outgo you both. Take $TRUMP, for example. On Jan. 17, 2025, conscionable earlier his inauguration, Donald Trump launched his memecoin connected Solana, which surged past a $14.5 cardinal highest marketplace cap connected decentralized exchanges (DEXs) similar Raydium and Orca wrong small much than 24 hours, making it the 2nd largest memecoin down Dogecoin astatine 1 point.

By the clip the large CEXs listed $TRUMP a time oregon 2 aboriginal — having cleared the accustomed bureaucratic rigmarole — the enactment was over. As such, for speculators, DEXs aren’t conscionable faster; they’re much liquid, much volatile and frankly, much fun. In a marketplace wherever fortunes are made successful minutes if not milliseconds, waiting for a CEX to drawback up is simply a missed opportunity.

On the Monday greeting pursuing $TRUMP memecoin mania, I spoke with Bobby Ong, co-founder of CoinGecko, the autarkic crypto information aggregator that has agelong been my idiosyncratic go-to for checking token prices — on with astir 40 cardinal different monthly visitors, according to HypeStat.com. Founded successful 2014, CoinGecko has grown into 1 the astir trusted sources for crypto marketplace data.

Ong and I had really scheduled the telephone earlier Christmas, truthful it was axenic coincidence that Trump conscionable happened to motorboat his memecoin a fewer days earlier. When we spoke, we some had the aforesaid reaction: What the hellhole conscionable happened?

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I’ve known Bobby for years—he’s a existent OG, having first bought bitcoin successful 2013, and is 1 of the sharpest observers of however trading habits germinate astatine the grassroots level. When helium started CoinGecko, it was to lick his ain occupation — backmost then, crypto terms tracking was rudimentary, and determination wasn’t a mode to analyse marketplace depth, liquidity, developer enactment oregon assemblage engagement. He wanted amended insights, truthful helium and his co-founder built the instrumentality themselves.

Ong is based successful Malaysia, portion I’m successful the Philippines, truthful we’ve some spent years successful Asia’s crypto scene, watching firsthand however the portion has shaped — and been shaped by — crypto. With Consensus Hong Kong coming up and some of america slated to beryllium speakers, we planned to sermon crypto adoption trends successful Asia. But we ended up talking astir the problems with CEX.

DEX appeal

For CEX users, waking up connected Monday was a brutal realization: they’d already missed retired connected nearly 41,000% successful imaginable gains. This was peculiarly gut wrenching since it wasn’t conscionable different obscure memecoin popping disconnected successful immoderate niche country of the internet; it was a headline-dominating plus tied to the recently re-elected U.S. president, and still, CEXs couldn’t determination accelerated enough.

Meanwhile, successful conscionable 72 hours, Solana's DEX users recorded an unprecedented $28 billion successful trading volume, mostly driven by $TRUMP and the fast-following $MELANIA token. This level of DeFi engagement was unimaginable hardly a fewer years ago, erstwhile DEXs were considered excessively analyzable for the mean trader to use. But that’s nary longer the case, which suggests that DeFi isn’t conscionable an alternate to CEXs; it mightiness conscionable overtake them.

“The acquisition with decentralized exchanges is superior compared to centralized exchanges, and radical gravitate to that — that’s what I’m seeing successful the marketplace close now,” Ong told me.

How times person changed

Back successful 2020, CoinGecko’s Yearly Crypto Report showed that portion combined CEX and DEX trading volumes surged by $403 cardinal to $534 billion, CEXs accounted for 93% of that growth. Fast-forward to 2024 and that same yearly report revealed that the apical 10 spot DEXs had done $1.76 trillion successful measurement each connected their own. Additionally, successful Q4 of 2024, Solana overtook Ethereum for the archetypal clip arsenic the ascendant chain, reaching $219.2 cardinal successful DEX trading volume, oregon implicit 30% of each DEX trades, compared to Ethereum’s $184.3 billion.

Particularly with Solana, the ecosystem has been built with a beardown accent connected mobile applications. Wallets similar Phantom and Jupiter are designed to beryllium user-friendly for mobile trading, which is captious since astir radical contiguous commercialized chiefly done mobile apps. Ong noted that the idiosyncratic acquisition for mobile wallets has improved significantly, which successful crook has enhanced the wide on-chain experience.

"Previously, we lone had MetaMask connected desktop, and portion determination was a MetaMask mobile wallet, it wasn’t precise user-friendly,” helium said. “But if you look astatine Ethereum now, you’re seeing a displacement — Uniswap has its ain mobile app, [non-custodial] Coinbase Wallet has improved and determination are galore others similar Rainbow. The wide wallet acquisition has gotten overmuch amended compared to before, erstwhile MetaMask was 1 of the lone options."

Ong besides noted the friction progressive successful getting caller users on-chain, but pointed retired that erstwhile onboarded, they larn the ropes, enabling them to navigate the ecosystem independently. This means that aboriginal projects don’t person to walk arsenic overmuch clip and effort onboarding.

I recalled writing astir Axie Infinity backmost successful 2020 and however hard it was for players to gain Axie’s in-game token, past sync and swap it to Ethereum and past commercialized it connected Uniswap — it was an incredibly complicated, multi-step process. But erstwhile radical overcame those archetypal hurdles, the adjacent question of projects could physique connected that foundation, benefiting from an already-educated idiosyncratic base. Over time, the situation shifted from onboarding noobs to refining the acquisition and expanding what’s imaginable on-chain.

Caught betwixt regulators and a hard place

As DeFi becomes much idiosyncratic friendly, and users get friendlier with DeFi, Ong told maine helium sees these developments arsenic an existential menace to the CEX business. He likened the CEXs to a large supermarket with spot and futures, staking and each the things you could ever request each successful 1 convenient place. But with each that being unbundled by DeFi, which tin present beryllium accessed via the main interface of a DEX successful a user’s mobile wallet, the CEXs indispensable fig retired wherever they’re going to sit.

That’s particularly the lawsuit for CEXs that run successful jurisdictions wherever they deficiency afloat regulatory approval, similar Binance, OKX and ByBit, since they tin neither onboard shitcoins instantly similar a astute contract-based non-custodial DEX — wherever tokens go tradable arsenic soon arsenic liquidity is added — nor connection fiat on/off ramps similar a licensed CEX.

This leaves them grasping astatine straws, hopeless to support relevance. Ong gave an example: Binance has ever allowed the trading of high-risk assets but its caller listing of speculative AI tokens specified arsenic ChainGPT (CGPT) and Cookie DAO (COOKIE), arsenic good arsenic emerging AI-driven projects specified arsenic aixbt by Virtuals (AIXBT), suggests a displacement to cater to hype-driven, short-term trading. Some critics person called this retired arsenic a departure from Binance’s traditionally selective standards and a determination to pursuit trading measurement amid rising DEX competition.

“They benignant of person nary prime due to the fact that if radical are trading those tokens connected their ain wallets connected Metamask, oregon Aerodrome connected Base, past they are not trading connected Binance,” said Ong.

Meanwhile, Binance’s regulatory troubles person been mounting. In excavation and Bobby’s location region, countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia each person wide licensing requirements for crypto exchanges, with Vietnam expected to articulation them this year. Obviously, the level of regularisation varies betwixt these countries, with immoderate being much relaxed and immoderate much strict, but the constituent is, it's nary longer a grey area.

This leaves a jurisdictionally fluid CEX similar Binance successful the precarious presumption of operating successful regulatory limbo, perpetually facing restrictions, bans oregon forced exits from cardinal markets. By contrast, DEXs person nary cardinal entity to modulate them. Without a institution oregon office to licence oregon restrict, they beryllium purely arsenic astute contracts connected a blockchain, allowing them to facilitate trading without the aforesaid compliance burdens that measurement down CEXs.

“Do you cognize of immoderate state that’s getting anyplace adjacent to regulating DeFi?” I asked. “No,” said Bobby, mentally chalking up different triumph for DEXs.

Why DEXs are dominating successful Asia now

Southeast Asia is location to a immense colonisation of tech-savvy youngsters anxious to research caller fiscal opportunities but (with the objection of Singapore) the portion offers constricted options for high-yield investments. Unlike successful the U.S., wherever retail investors enjoyed 23%-plus returns successful the S&P 500 successful some 2023 and 2024, radical successful the East look important barriers to accessing specified markets — for context, we don’t person immoderate section equivalent wherever retail investors tin cheaply and easy commercialized stocks via platforms similar Robinhood. Most equity trading platforms successful Southeast Asian markets person precocious barriers to introduction —steep fees, deficiency of fractional shares, strict regulations and constricted entree to planetary equities. Instead, crypto has filled the gap.

Where other tin you spot a token similar $TRUMP detonate from $7 to $75 successful not overmuch much than the abstraction of a weekend? And portion the crypto manufacture tries to shingle its estimation for speculation, that speculative allure is precisely what keeps radical coming in.

These markets substance to exchanges — CEXs, DEXs and everything successful betwixt — due to the fact that countries with ample populations similar India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are premier hunting grounds for idiosyncratic acquisition. These regions connection immense scale, but the situation lies successful the spending powerfulness of these users.

GDP per capita is comparatively low, and galore individuals deficiency important disposable income truthful they prosecute with crypto successful mostly transactional ways, hunting airdrops for survival. Earning $50 to $100 from an airdrop isn’t a bonus for galore radical surviving successful these countries — it tin beryllium rent, nutrient oregon a afloat month’s wages. However, portion this drives engagement, the information is often impermanent and driven by contiguous fiscal needs alternatively than semipermanent concern oregon level affinity.

“A batch of them are conscionable determination to marque money. They’re not adjacent funny successful decentralization oregon the technology. It's truly conscionable astir the fiscal returns for galore of them,” said Ong. And portion CEXs service this assemblage good for on/off ramps, for those seeking the highest rewards, DEXs are wherever the stakes — and the upside — are highest.

As such, today’s degens aren’t needfully ideologically-driven similar the aboriginal Bitcoiners who championed “don’t tread connected me” ideals oregon the ethos of “be your ain bank.” They are decentralized for 1 reason: the money.

And portion mediocre fiscal literacy and FOMO often pb to losses, I personally don’t judge successful shielding radical from hazard by making these markets inaccessible. High barriers fundamentally accidental “You’re mediocre and uneducated, truthful you can’t participate,” robbing radical of the accidental to learn—even if that means making mistakes. Traditional concern does the aforesaid happening by restricting startup investments to accredited investors, supposedly for protection, but successful reality, conscionable keeping the champion opportunities for the wealthy. That, successful my presumption — and successful Ong’s excessively — is fundamentally unfair.

DEXs person the precocious manus close now. They connection true, open, unrestricted entree to fiscal accidental astatine lightning speed, allowing anyone, anyplace to get successful connected the game. How agelong regulators volition instrumentality to drawback up is anyone’s guess, but for now, we marque hay portion the Crypto Spring prima shines.

And erstwhile the adjacent mega memecoin kicks off, each you truly request is simply a wallet, a DEX and the stamina to fulfill a never-ending rhythm of checking, hoping and coping connected CoinGecko.