Every venue in the CexDex top 100 is either a centralized exchange (CEX) that holds your funds for you, or a decentralized exchange (DEX) where you trade straight from your own wallet. That single difference — who controls the coins — drives almost everything else: how you sign up, what can go wrong, what you pay, and what you can trade.
CEX venues ranked
63
DEX venues ranked
37
DEX share of tracked volume
18%
| Centralized (CEX) | Decentralized (DEX) | |
|---|---|---|
| Custody of funds | The exchange holds your coins in its own wallets. You trade against an internal ledger and withdraw when you want out. | You keep your keys. Trades settle from your own wallet through smart contracts, so nothing sits on a company balance sheet. |
| Account & KYC | Email/ID verification is normally required, with tiered limits and regional restrictions. | Connect a wallet and trade. No account, no identity check on most venues. |
| Security model | Depends on the operator: cold storage ratios, insurance funds, internal controls. Counterparty risk is real. | Depends on the code: smart-contract audits, oracle design, bridge risk. You carry key-management risk yourself. |
| Liquidity & depth | Deepest order books on majors; market makers quote tight spreads for large size. | Improving fast — perp DEXs now clear billions daily — but long-tail pairs can slip badly. |
| Fees | Maker/taker tiers, VIP levels, fiat deposit costs. Trading fees are usually the lowest headline rate. | Protocol fee plus network gas, and price impact on thin pools. Cheap on L2s, costly on congested L1s. |
| Listings | Curated. Tokens pass a review process, so new assets arrive later. | Permissionless. New tokens appear immediately — including scams, so you verify contracts yourself. |
| Fiat on/off ramps | Cards, bank transfers and local payment methods in many countries. | None natively — you need a CEX or a third-party ramp to convert to and from cash. |
| Recovery options | Password resets and support tickets. An account can be frozen, but it can also be recovered. | None. A lost seed phrase or a signed malicious transaction is final. |
In practice most active traders use both: a centralized venue as the fiat gateway and for size on majors, and a decentralized venue for self-custody and early listings. Whatever the mix, move long-term holdings off any exchange into a wallet you control.
Our ranking scores all 100 exchanges on volume, market coverage, security track record and usability, and lets you filter by CEX or DEX.
See the top 100 ranking