This is a summary of the op-ed “What’s Better Than CEX? DEX” by Leah Callon-Butler, published on CoinDesk on February 11, 2025.
When Donald Trump launched the TRUMP token in early 2025, many attentive members of the crypto community reaped massive profits. The token soared to $14.5 billion market cap over a weekend. Unfortunately, as Emfarsis Director Leah Callon-Butler noted, not everyone was able to participate.
Although traders on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) were able to act immediately after the tokens were listed, the story was different for users in centralized exchanges (CEXs). By the time centralized exchanges like Bybit, OKX, and Binance onboarded the memecoins, the barnstorm had ended.
In her CoinDesk article “What’s Better Than CEX? DEX,” Leah speaks with CoinGecko co-founder Bobby Ong on the numerous advantages DEXs have over their centralized counterparts, and why DEXs are poised to maintain their position atop the food chain in the long term.
In 2020, CEX activity accounted for over 90% of the growth in activity in the then-fledgling DeFi arena. Today, that relationship has shifted, with DEX activity accounting for the majority of the industry’s trading volume. Leah also pointed out how Solana overtook Ethereum as the most active chain in DeFi in Q4 2024, largely due to Solana’s outsized support for mobile applications, which made it easier for users to trade on a DEX.
“DEXs have the upper hand right now. They offer true, open, unrestricted access to financial opportunity at lightning speed, allowing anyone, anywhere to get in on the game.”
During Leah and Bobby’s discussion, the former also took note of how DEXs have made a far stronger effort to match the preferences of the modern DeFi user. Developing easy-to-use mobile wallet applications with smoother onboarding UX has been a top priority. This represents a significant shift from the early days of Web3, particularly in Web3 gaming, as withdrawing funds from the Axie Infinity ecosystem was once a complex, multi-step process.
Crucially, Leah also highlighted the long-term risks CEXs face. Considering the track records of exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and OKX, regulatory bodies exert constant pressure on them, which can result in restrictions, bans, or removal from specific markets. This is why DEXs have emerged as the dominant hubs for DeFi activity in emerging markets, such as Asia, where many individuals are drawn to the ecosystem primarily for financial gain. DEXs move faster and are more fun overall. CEXs can only dream of the capabilities DEXs have to list the next mega memecoin while the iron is hot.
Read the full article here: “What’s Better than CEX? DEX” by Leah Callon-Butler. Published February 11, 2025 on CoinDesk.