DEX (Decentralized Exchange)

A trading venue that runs on-chain, without a central operator holding user funds.

A decentralized exchange is a trading venue where users swap tokens directly from their wallets, without depositing into a custodian. Most DEXs are AMMs (Uniswap, Curve, Balancer); some are on-chain order books (dYdX, Hyperliquid); some are aggregators that route across multiple DEXs (1inch, Matcha).

DEXs don't custody user funds, but "decentralized" is a spectrum. The frontend, the matching engine, the fee router, and the governance can each be more or less centralized. A DEX whose web interface can be taken down by a single team isn't fully decentralized in practice.