So, in the aftermath of FTX and all the confusion about which CEX is solvent or not.... and how far and long the contagion of Luna/3AC, Greyscale and all the interlinked dominoes goes... there has been more and more talk about DEXs (decentralised Exchanges) replacing the use of CEXs (centralised exchanges). I have written about this before and the adoption of non-custodial (self controlled) wallets before... and I'm still not completely convinced that this is the way of the near term future, and of the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies in general.

Now, before I get flamed by crypto "purists"... I still hold to the ideological and idealistic view that people SHOULD self-custody and operate more on DEXs instead of trusting others to hold their digital assets. However, I'm also tainted by a streak of realism as well... and I know that people (at least in this day and age, perhaps it is different in the future) LIKE to have SOMEONE ELSE to be responsible for losses (but like to take personal credit for gains...)...

I mean, take the "Karen" meme that has been so prevalent in the last few years... this is so viral as there is definitely some sense of truth in there, people WANT to be able to complain to SOMEONE... someone who will fix their problems, and absolve themselves of responsibility completely. Of course, the usage of DEXs is not that difficult... and relatively secure self-custody is also relatively easy with hardware wallets. However, we are again talking about mass adoption... and not the adoption by people who are already familiar with the surface workings of cryptocurrency. I mean, if you just think back to the time that you first discovered cryptocurrency and had to learn so much to get to where you are now... don't delude yourself, you had to learn A LOT! Much of the decentralised ethos is completely foreign to the way that we do things in the rest of the world... many new ideas and habits to learn... sometimes at a slightly higher than necessary cost!

So, self custody... hmmm... one very relevant thought at the moment. How many people have decent digital hygiene with regards to their password/username and just general internet behaviour at the moment. Nearly zero... it is really a huge mess, and every time that I talk to people about it... I'm a touch astounded and terrified by both the lack of care or knowledge there is about the whole digital footprint thing!... and we expect people to be able to back up and protect seed phrases? Yep, good luck with that...

... and then add to that the problem of people just signing anything and everything! In the non-crypto digital world... how many people still fall for phishing and link click scams? Add to that, the desire to click every QR code in existence? Given that there are a huge number of dodgy crypto sites... and very few trusted ones, and most people can't really tell the difference one way or the other... well, the number of Ape holders (who are more in line with the "normal" digital security user profiles) that have been scammed should already give us a hint as to how successful that will be.

So, DEXs... yes, especially on Ethereum and the associated L2s. It is still a wild place, but there are more trusted dApps there. But Ethereum has such a bad reputation of high fees (that has even infected some perceptions of the L2s) that people get driven to alt-L1s that are highly speculative in nature (maybe Cosmos is different?) and somewhat dodgy in practice.

Anyway... yes, DEXs... but they aren't the complete solution for the whole population. It is too idealistic and completely impractical. Same for complete self-custody as it stands (although, multi-sigs like Argent could work...).... So, we need better CEXs that are regulated and serve more like FULLY collateralised banks. It is quite strange that more and more, I start to think that Coinbase is a good counterbalance to Binance.... these are my two goto exchanges at the moment. Who knows... they are quite different in nature, and at the moment the only way to get exposure to Coinbase is via the US stock exchange, which I think I will do later in the New Year.

Yes DEXs, if you dare... but CEXs aren't finished yet. But they do need a great deal of reformation! And dare I say it, regulation (and enforcement).

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.