Exchange
A venue for trading assets. A centralised exchange holds customer funds and matches orders on its own systems; a decentralised exchange settles trades through smart contracts with users keeping custody.
Also called CEX · DEX · centralised exchange · decentralised exchange
A venue for trading assets. A centralised exchange holds customer funds and matches orders on its own systems; a decentralised exchange settles trades through smart contracts with users keeping custody.
Why it matters
Balances on a centralised exchange are a claim on that company, as several failures have demonstrated.
Related terms
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Whale
A holder large enough that their transactions can move a market on their own.
Circulating Supply
The number of tokens currently available to trade, excluding those locked, reserved or not…
Bridge
A system for moving value between blockchains, typically locking an asset on one chain…
NFT
A token representing a unique item rather than an interchangeable unit, recorded on a…
Layer 2
A network built on top of a base blockchain that processes transactions separately and…
Self-Custody
Holding your own keys rather than leaving assets with an exchange or custodian.