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Exchanges or centralized exchanges?

• freedomben 3y ago
  Good point, although can an exchange really exist that is decentralized? What would that look like? Basically just a neutral broker between two individuals? That is a very interesting idea
  • svachalek 3y ago
    A decentralized exchange is called a DEX and there are a lot of them. The biggest one is UniSwap as far as I know. They operate via the blockchain's smart contract system. Unfortunately there's no way for them to handle exchanges with offline assets and currencies so I don't think they can exist in a world without CEX.
  • ragebol 3y ago
    Can't anyone with some Bitcoins and some dollars be an exchange?
    • freedomben 3y ago
      Yes anyone with bitcoin can "exchange" bitcoin directly, but when most people say "exchange" they mean some sort of trusted third party that executes and coordinates trades on somebody's behalf. With most crypto currencies there are significant risk and trust issues when going directly unless you trust the other party. It can also be very difficult to find somebody who wants to buy or sell the amount of coin that you are looking to buy/sell, so there's considerable utility in the match making.