Dexes have existed for years. Uniswap is the largest one with the highest volume. It exists as a set of onchain smart contracts, and thousands of independent li

Dexes have existed for years. Uniswap is the largest one with the highest volume. It exists as a set of onchain smart contracts, and thousands of independent liquidity providers set positions within price ranges while an onchain routing system directs swaps between tokens according to deterministic rules. The fee for swaps is configurable by the LPs, and can be anywhere from .01 to 1%, but 0.3% is probably the most common fee charged. Tether is audited regularly: https://tether.to/en/transparency/#usdt https://tether.to/en/transparency/#usdt It would not have survived multiple bear market cycles with tens of billions in redemptions and drawdowns if it wasn't solvent. The last cycle took out plenty of players who truly were insolvent (Luna, FTX, BlockFi, fo name a few). Circle's reserves for USDC are listed by Blackrock : https://www.blackrock.com/cash/en-us/products/329365/ https://www.blackrock.com/cash/en-us/products/329365/ and provides monthly accounting reports, the most recent issued by Deloitte: https://www.circle.com/en/transparency#transparency https://www.circle.com/en/transparency#transparency