Centralized crypto exchanges took numerous hits from hack attacks and regulatory scrutiny for years. Since the infamous 2011 breach at Mt. Gox, which was handling 70% of Bitcoin transactions at the time, an alarming number of crypto exchanges experienced breaches and exploits, resulting in billions of dollars of loss. Without a proper mechanic to recover customer funds if something goes wrong, crypto exchanges were far from the ideal custodians.
Still, it took one majestic collapse of a top crypto exchange such as FTX for people to understand that when a user sends their crypto assets to a centralized exchange, they no longer own their funds. The $8 billion in missing customer funds showed that crypto exchanges have the right to trade with those customers’ crypto or even withdraw them. Once again, the famous phrase ”not your keys, not your coins” started echoing across the crypto universe.
Following the fallout of the FTX, traders and investors have withdrawn a record amount of crypto from centralized exchanges to self-custody wallets where they have complete control over their cryptocurrencies. With the meteoric rise of self-custody, crypto users started to fit into a healthier profile in terms of overall financial well-being.
While self-custody provides proper control and protection, users still need key functionality for trading and investing. Since decentralized finance is no longer a barebone space, DeFi developers were quick to answer the needs of crypto users who migrated from centralized entities.
For crypto traders who want to execute advanced trading functions without giving control of their crypto assets to third parties, decentralized alternatives were created. Built on the Polygon network, DPEX is one such solution for users who want to trade crypto assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Matic with up to 50x leverage via self-custody wallets. As a decentralized perpetual exchange, DPEX offers low transaction fees while letting users trade perpetual contracts with no expiry dates.
Self-custody meets utility
The platform’s intuitive design provides a simple screen that can be enjoyed by expert traders and DeFi newcomers alike. Users can easily take advantage of the practical tools on DPEX, earning from swaps, market making, leverage trading and spreads. The platform features multi-asset liquidity pools backed by the Polygon network’s $1 billion TVL.
Self-custody wallets like MetaMask or WalletConnect can be used to access the app, where they can open long or short positions, as well as make swaps, all from the same screen. The trustless nature of the platform allows for transactions without any form of KYC verification. Since there’s no third party involved in the management of funds, DPEX users are protected from any malicious activities.
More info about trading with leverage on DPEX can be found here.
The platform is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization named the DPEX Foundation. Giving users total control over their assets and allowing them to engage in leverage trading and on-chain voting are two main objectives of the DPEX DAO. By utilizing the DPEX token, which serves as the platform’s utility and governance token, users can participate in the ecosystem and have a say in the platform’s development. The LP token, named DPLP, is designed for liquidity providers. During the launch, DPLP will provide four primary assets, including MATIC, ETH, WBTC, and USDC, with the community able to approve the addition of more.
The team behind DPEX has recently announced an airdrop of 1 million eDPEX tokens. Crypto owners with GMX, dYdX and Synthetix holdings recorded on the Ethereum blockchain are eligible to get eDPEX tokens airdropped to their Polygon wallets. The eDPEX tokens would be converted to DPEX at a 1:1 ratio following the platform’s official launch.
The sudden interest in self-custody provides the perfect service for the DeFi ecosystem to thrive and access mainstream adoption. Crypto users are more aware of what they need and what to expect from a new platform, while developers are working hard to exceed users’ expectations. With projects like DPEX, decentralized trading has the potential to become the gateway to crypto for the vast majority who simply want to trade in a safer environment while keeping total control over their funds.
