The Exchanges category covers all crypto exchanges including both centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase and decentralized exchanges like Uniswap or Quickswap.

Exchanges

Kraken is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. The exchange provides cryptocurrency to fiat trading, and provides price information to Bloomberg Terminal. According to CoinMarketCap, Kraken is the 4th largest Cryptocurrency exchange in the world (as of January 2021).[\[1\]](#cite-id-v8p4yuwn7if)[\[2\]](#cite-id-nkqbxl2xcue)  
  
# History  
  
Kraken was founded by Jesse Powell who visited the offices of cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox following that company's 2011 security breach. Powell later revealed to Bloomberg News he began working on Kraken as a replacement for Mt. Gox if that company were to permanently close, which it did in 2014.[\[2\]](#cite-id-nkqbxl2xcue)  
  
In September 2013, Kraken launched after two years of testing and development. The exchange initially offered bitcoin, litecoin, and euro trades. It later added additional currencies and margin trading.[\[1\]](#cite-id-v8p4yuwn7if)  
  
# Funding  
  
In January 2016, Kraken announced the completion of its Series B round of investment led by SBI Investment, a prominent Japanese venture capitalist firm under SBI Holdings. Following this investment round, Kraken announced two major acquisitions that year: Dutch exchange CleverCoin, which was acquired in June, and Glidera, a cryptocurrency wallet service allowing users to directly fund Glidera bank accounts with fiat for the purchase of cryptocurrencies on the Kraken exchange.[\[2\]](#cite-id-nkqbxl2xcue)  
  
In June 2019, Kraken received $13.5 million from 2,263 individual investors via a BnkToTheFuture special purpose vehicle.[\[2\]](#cite-id-nkqbxl2xcue)  
  
# Case With US Treasury Over Serving Customers in Iran  
  
In November 2022, Kraken agreed to pay a settlement of $362,159 to OFAC for its potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Iran, and will invest another $100,000 in implementing additional sanctions compliance controls. Marco Santori, the chief legal officer at Kraken, said the company was “pleased to have resolved this matter,” adding that it had already taken steps to strengthen control systems and expand its compliance team before entering into the resolution. Kraken is committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including those related to anti-money laundering and sanctions, and is working hard to ensure that its activities are conducted in a responsible and compliant manner.  
  
# Acquisitions  
  
Kraken has acquired the following companies:  
  
* Coinsetter  
* Cavirtex  
* Glidera  
* CleverCoin  
* Cryptocurrency futures exchange Crypto Facilities[\[3\]](#cite-id-he8le4wuw1g)[\[4\]](#cite-id-3xzmp7uz4ki)

 Kraken is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. As of 2021, Kraken was the 4th largest exchange in the world. 

Kraken

Crypto.com is a pioneering payment and cryptocurrency company with a mission to accelerate the world's transition to [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency).[\[1\]](#cite-id-i87sewgdhzc)  
  
In March 2021, Crypto.com launched a $200 million fund for crypto startups at Seed and Series A stages. Crypto.com Capital has invested in several crypto startups including Genies, a leading avatar, and [Non-Fungible Token (NFT)](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) company.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](K8qYdD1sC7w)$$  
  
# Overview  
  
Crypto.com's consumer products include the Crypto.com Wallet & Card App, the MCO Visa Card, Crypto.com Chain, as well as Crypto Credit.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
The company was founded as Monaco Technologies GmbH in June 2016 with Kris Marszalek as CEO. The company announced its rebrand to Crypto.com on July 6, 2018. On October 22, Crypto.com began shipping its MCO Visa Card in Singapore and subsequently on November 16, announced its plan to roll out the MCO Visa Card program in the United States in partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank.[\[3\]](#cite-id-bgi713t55oi)  
  
In May 2021, Crypto.com became the first cryptocurrency exchange to announce the use of CipherTrace's Traveler solution, the first commercial solution to enable compliance with global anti-money laundering (AML) travel rule laws.[\[1\]](#cite-id-i87sewgdhzc)  
  
In May, Crypto.com became the first global cryptocurrency platform to receive a Class 3 Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) License from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). A Class 3 VFA License authorizes Crypto.com to provide the following services to experienced and non-experienced investors: execution of orders on behalf of other persons, custodian or nominee services, and dealing on own account.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
# Crypto.com Exchange  
  
Crypto.com Exchange debuted with the spot trading functionality, with more features and promotions being added to the platform to deliver a suite of trading-related services for both retail and corporate users. Crypto.com Exchange supports trading pairs for cryptocurrencies such as [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) (BTC), [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) (ETH), Litecoin, USDC, and more, as well as the CRO token - the native currency of Crypto.com Chain.[\[4\]](#cite-id-qudggsqpje)  
  
### Margin Trading  
  
Margin trading on the Crypto.com Exchange allows users to borrow cryptocurrencies on Crypto.com Exchange to trade on the spot market. Eligible users can use the margin loan as leverage to open a position that is larger than the balance of their account.[\[5\]](#cite-id-80bg7lg9ge2)  
  
### Derivatives Trading  
  
The first derivatives product offered on Crypto.com perpetuals perpetuals. Perpetuals enable traders to buy or sell the value of their ‘assets’, whereby the underlying asset itself is never traded, allowing them to better manage risk. Perpetuals do not expire or have a settlement date, and users can hold their positions for as long as needed.[\[1\]](#cite-id-i87sewgdhzc)  
  
### Crypto.com Lending  
  
Crypto.com Lending allows users to borrow against your cryptocurrencies without selling them. Users can deposit them as collateral and take out crypto loansusers'ulfill users financialthem needs, use for Margin Trading on the Crypto.com Exchange, or hedge on other exchange platforms. Institutional users who require more flexibl loan terms, can apply for Lending Pro on Crypto.com Lending. Once the application has been approved, you can enjoy a higher borrowing limit and apply for loans with customized terms when they are available.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
### Syndicate  
  
The Syndicate is a discounted token offering platform on Crypto.com Exchange, powered by the CRO token. The Syndicate helps projects raise awareness and drive user education. The listing project can provide an allocatif their own token for distribution on the Crypto.com Exchange users with up to a 50% discount. All proceeds from the sale are passed back to the projects. CRO holders receive priority token allocation for these events.  
  
# Crypto.com App  
  
With the Crypto.com App users can buy crypto with their fiat wallets and/or with a credit or debit card. The Crypto.com App supports fiatsral fiat and over 50 cryptocurrencies. Users also can send crypto to Crypto.com App users instantly ithout fees, or withdraw crypto to external wallet addresses with minimal fixed fees. Users can monitor 200+ coins at their fingertips in the coin tracking tab. Metrics available include prices, volume, market cap, % change, and more that are refreshed frequently and up-to-date. The app also presents charts in dual currencies (USD, BTC) and different time frames (8H, 1D, 1W, 3M, 6M).  
  
The Crypto.com App enables users to apply for and manage their Visa Card and enabspending of their cryptocurrency in the online and offline world.  
  
### Crypto Earn  
  
Crypto Earn is offered within the Crypto.com App. Crypto Earn is a product that lets users who want to capitalize on their holdings while retaining ownership. Crypto Earn gives users the freedom to grow their crypto assets and earn up to double-digit interest rates annually on different cryptocurrencies. Crypto Earn supports more than 18 tokens, including Chainlink, PAX Gold, Bitcoin Cash, and Stellar. Crypto Earn also supports stablecoins including TrueUSD, Paxos Standard, and more.  
  
There are three holding term options for users to choose from at the time of deposit: a flexible hola ding term, a 1-month fixed term, and a 3-month fixed term. Once the deposit is confirmed, interest will start to accrue immediately. Users with CRO staked will receive preferential interest rates.  
  
### Crypto Credit  
  
Crypto Credit is offered within the Crypto.com App. With Crypto Credit, users can deposit cryptocurrencies as collateral to borrow a crypto loan. Supported collateral currencies include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), CRO, Litecoin, Stellar, EOS, Cardano, Algorand, Cosmos, VeChain (VET), Chainlink, and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), with more currencies to be added progressively. After depositing the required collateral, the user will receive the loan instantly in their crypto wallet in the Crypto.com App. Supported loan currencies include Tether (USDT), TrueUSDand, USD Coin, Paxos (PAX). Users with CRO staked will receive preferential loan interest rates.[\[4\]](#cite-id-qudggsqpje)  
  
# Wallet  
  
Crypto.com DeFi Wallet is designed for all levels of crypto users. The wallet supports most major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), CRO, Litecoin, Stellar, Curve DAO Token, and TrueFi (TRU). Users can have more than one wallet and change their wallet networks from Mainnet to Ethereum Testnets in the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet App.[\[3\]](#cite-id-bgi713t55oi)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](s3MxJVprlnc)$$  
  
# Crypto.com DeFi Swap  
  
DeFi Swap is designed to be the best place to swap and farm DeFi coins at the best available rate, leveraging proven and audited protocols, while offering an outstanding incentive program powered by CRO. Liquidity Providers (LPs) are incentivized for contributing to liquidity pools with Triple Yield through Swap-fee Sharing for LPs, CRO DeFi Yield for LPs who also stake CRO, and Bonus LP Yield for LPs of selected pools.[\[5\]](#cite-id-80bg7lg9ge2)  
  
Crypto.com DeFiDecentralizedDefi swap is integrated with the Defi wallet allowing users to exchange tokens directly in the Defi Wallet app.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
# Crypto.org Chain  
  
Crypto.org Chain is the next-generation public blockchain that enables transactions worldwide between people and businesses. It is also the technology that powers Crypto.com Pay. Crypto.org Chain Mainnet launched in March 2021, with Crypto.org Coin (CRO) as its native currency. Users can stake CRO in Crypto.com Defi Wallet to join delegated proof-of-stake and earn yield.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
The team chose Tendermint - a byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus protocol - as the consensus engine for Crypto.org Chain.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
### CRO Token  
  
The Crypto.com Coin (CRO) token is the native token of the Crypto.org Chain. CRO also powers the overall Crypto.com ecosystem, with utility across payment, trading, and financial services. In February 2021, Crypto.com announced updates to the CRO token distribution, with the goal of 100% decentralization in preparation for the Crypto.org Chain Mainnet launch. Crypto.com has pledged to burn 70 billion CROs (reducing the total supply of the token to 30 billion CROs), with the remaining 5.9 billion CROs to be used as Mainnet block rewards for Chain validators and allocation to Particle B for ecosystem development.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
# Crypto.com Pay  
  
Crypto.com Pay is a mobile payment service that lets the user pay in and/or receive cryptocurrency anywhere and anytime for free. Crypto.com Pay has a suite of offerings, including Pay Checkout, Pay Gift Cards, Pay Airtime Top-Up, and Pay Your Friends.[\[3\]](#cite-id-bgi713t55oi)  
  
### Pay Checkout  
  
Pay Checkout lets customers check out and pay in crypto and/or merchants to receive crypto as an additional payment option. Pay Checkout interface is easy and intuitive to use for both merchants and customers:  
  
1. The customer pays in crypto by choosing “Crypto.com Pay” on the checkout page at the merchants.  
2. The customer is presented with a QR code and scans to pay - either with Crypto.com App or with a supported decentralized wallet.  
3. The customer’s account is debited. The merchant receives payment instantly in the fiat currency or cryptocurrency of their choice in their business account with Crypto.com.  
  
### Pay Gift Cards  
  
With Pay Gift Cards, Crypto.com App users can shop at worldwide prominent brands with crypto and get cashback in CRO with each purchase. Crypto.com offers gift cards from brands in several different categories including airlines, hotels, games, fashion, food and beverage, general retail, telecommunication, gas and diesel, entertainment, taxi services, and grocery. Users can get Crypto.com gift cards for brands including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Starbucks, and Nike among others.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
### Pay Airtime Top-Up  
  
Pay Airtime is a feature that enables Crypto.com App users to pay for mobile airtime top-ups via Crypto.com Pay in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin, and CRO. With a few clicks in the Crypto.com App, users can top up airtime for mobile numbers offered by over 340 prepaid mobile network operators, including T-Mobile, Vodafone, Airtel, Orange, Verizon Wireless, and others, in over 100 countries.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
### Pay Your Friends  
  
Pay Your Friends allows users to pay back their friends in crypto and earn rewards by doing so. Users can pay their friends in any cryptocurrency for free. Also if a user pays back a friend in CRO tokens, the sender will be rewarded with up to 10% cash back on the transaction.[\[1\]](#cite-id-i87sewgdhzc)  
  
# Crypto.com VISA Cards  
  
The Crypto.com Visa Card allows cardholders to earn up to up 8% CRO token rewards on all transactions without any annual fees. The cards also offer a variety of perks including 100% CRO token rewards on services including Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon Prime as well as large rebates with several other companies. The top Obisidan card perks also include access to airport lounges, Crypto.com private which has a variety of services for crypto traders, bonus interest, exclusive merchandise, and private jet partnerships.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
Crypto.com's VISA cards are prepaid cards that the user can top up using bank account transfers, other credit/debit cards, or cryptocurrency. To apply for a Crypto.com Visa Card, a user needs to stake CRO tokens for 180 days. Based on how much CRO tokens they stake, users can qualify for different tiers of VISA cards that offer different perks and rewards: there is the Obsidian card (8% CRO cashback), Icy White and Frosted Rose Gold cards (5% cashback), Jade Green and Royal Indigo cards (3% cashback), Ruby Steel (2% cashback), and Midnight Blue (1% cashback).  The Visa Card can be managed via the Crypto.com App. In the app, users could complete card applications, view card details, track card spending records, receive eligible card rewards, etc.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](BRYEaIGpbkc)$$  
  
# Crypto.com NFT  
  
Crypto.com NFT is a platform dedicated to delivering unique content from popular artists, musicians, athletes, and sports. Artists who've joined the Crypto.com NFT platform include Axel Mansoor, Bag Raiders, BossLogic, Boy George, KCamp, Klarens Malluta with Lionel Richie, Kloud (Dj), Mr. Brainwash, Snoop Dogg, among others. The Crypto.com NFT platform offers a user-friendly buying experience, allowing users to buy NFTs using their credit or debit card, and the option to pay with over 20 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
### Kinetica  
  
In addition to having a chance to win one of the limited-edition race NFTs, every successful submission will receive a commemorative NFT, with a unique NFT for onsite submissions and a unique NFT for offsite submissions. Submissions close Monday, May 8th, at 11:59 pm EDT. Commemorative NFTs and the limited edition NFTs minted during the race will be awarded within a week following the race.  
  
### Crypto.com signs NFT MoU with Fantagio  
  
According to a press release, a MoU for cooperation in NFTs was signed by general entertainment firm Fantagio and Crypto.com. Through this alliance, the two businesses will work together to promote different NFT entertainment initiatives.  
As their first joint venture, the firms will launch a music NFT in honor of Meta Miu, a metaverse idol. Fantagio and Web3 entertainment platform Fellaz collaborated on the creation of "Meta Miu," a female solo K-pop singer who performs in the metaverse. Members who have subscribed to the Fellaz platform through NFTs will have access to special material, and "Meta Miu" will be governed based on a participant-centered fanbase community.  
On August 11, Crypto.com released five music NFTs of Miu's debut track, "Uptown Boy," on its NFT marketplace. Only one version of the NFT will include the whole song; the other four varieties will each contain various portions of the song. The Fellaz "light stick," which is a subscription to the Fellaz platform, may be obtained by holders of the complete song version NFT or those who have accumulated all of the individual sections of the entire song NFT. This grants access to the site's unique material.  
  
> “Through this MoU, we want to introduce a new fandom culture for the Web3 era, where fans and artists can be directly connected through NFT,” said Patrick Yoon, General Manager of Crypto.com Korea. “We will collaborate with Fantagio to discover new ways for fans around the world to experience K-content.”  
  
Crypto.com One of the biggest NFT platforms in the world, NFT offers unique material from well-known sports teams, players, and entertainers including Snoop Dogg, Boy George, Aston Martin, and the UFC. Through the Crypto.com NFT platform, collectors and enthusiasts may buy and sell NFTs, and Crypto.com Pay makes it simple to pay with credit cards, debit cards, and cryptocurrencies.$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](smqcbvHaPnE)$$  
  
# Crypto.com Capital  
  
Crypto.com Capital, the venture arm of Crypto.com, is dedicated to investing in crypto startups at Seed and Series A stages. Crypto.com Capital will lead seed rounds with cheque sizes between $100,000 and $3 million and Series A rounds from $3 million to $10 million.  Crypto.com Capital is led by Bobby Bao, co-founder of Crypto.com, who said:  
  
> “The motto and operating principle of Crypto.com Capital is “Founders First”. As company builders ourselves, we understand how hard it is to bring game-changing ideas to life. Founders can count on us to move fast and provide both capital and access to a global user base, helping them succeed. If you’re building in this space, contact us today: capital@crypto.com.”  
  
# Partnerships  
  
### Formula One  
  
In March 2021, Crypto.com announced a multi-year partnership with Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team to bring exclusive experiences and opportunities to traders and F1 fans. The partnership brings together two dynamic brands which share a passion for technology and speed and places Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team at the forefront of cryptocurrency innovation. Crypto.com is the first cryptocurrency platform to sponsor an F1 team.[\[2\]](#cite-id-m047tcdgnw8)  
  
### Visa Principal Membership  
  
In March 2021, Crypto.com announced a global partnership with Visa that also includes principal membership in Visa's network in Australia. The partnership will advance Crypto.com’s ambition to accelerate the adoption of crypto payment solutions around the world by expanding the reach of the Crypto.com Visa Card. In addition, Crypto.com is announcing plans to roll out fiat lending with crypto collateral via the Crypto.com Visa Card. Having been granted Visa principal membership, Crypto.com will begin direct issuance of the Crypto.com Visa Card in Australia. Crypto.com has also started offering virtual cards in Europe, allowing users to instantly start spending without waiting for the physical card to be in hand.[\[4\]](#cite-id-qudggsqpje)  
  
### Lega Serie A  
  
In May 2021, Crypto.com partnered with the Lega Serie A on the occasion of the 2021 Coppa Italia Final, which will see Atalanta B.C. challenge Juventus F.C. on May 19, at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia. To commemorate the event, a special NFT collection will be made available including the official trophy, match highlights, and more.[\[4\]](#cite-id-qudggsqpje)  
  
# Team  
  
### Co-Founders  
  
* Kris Marszalek - Co-Founder and CEO  
* Bobby Bao - Co-Founder & Head of Corporate Development  
* Rafael Melo - Co-Founder and CFO  
* Gary Or - Co-Founder and Founder of Particle B  
  
### Other Senior Management  
  
* Eric Anziani - COO  
* Jason Lau - CISO  
* Matthew Chan - CTO  
* Antonio Alvarez - CCO  
* Brent Diehl - Chief Business Officer  
* Mariana Gospodinova - General Manager, Europe  
* Steven Kalifowitz - CMO  
  
### Advisory Board  
  
* Antoine Blondeau (Alpha Intelligence Capital) - Chairman of the Advisory Board  
* Chris Corrado (London Stock Exchange Group) - Trading Technology  
* Dimitri Tsamados (Eric Salmon & Partners) - Talent  
* Rob Bier (Trellis Asia) - Organisation Design & Scaling

Crypto.com is a pioneering payment and cryptocurrency company, formerly known as Monaco Technologies GmbH. 

Crypto.com

Upbit is one of the largest centralized [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) exchanges by trading volume in Asia. The platform was established in South Korea and is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume in South Korea. Upbit allows users to purchase over 170 cryptocurrencies via fiat deposits, or trade their existing crypto assets.[\[1\]](#cite-id-z5j3pexf0s)[\[4\]](#cite-id-v9smbnbp95l)[\[5\]](#cite-id-3ssiu4i4f3k)  
  
On March 22, 2018, Upbit launched its UBCI (Upbit Crypto Index), a standard index that measures market conditions by suggesting a standard on coin quotes with the aim to make it easy for investors to understand overall market trends.[\[2\]](#cite-id-q0ilp0reb87)[\[3\]](#cite-id-cws9y4g27x)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](Mha3Le-PY8Y)$$  
  
# History  
  
In October 2017, Upbit was launched by Kakao in partnership with American exchange Bittrex to support stable Virtual currency trading. This allowed them to start trading with over 100 different [altcoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/altcoin). At the time of their launch, this was the largest number of [cryptocurrencies](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) offered by a Korean exchange.[\[2\]](#cite-id-q0ilp0reb87)[\[4\]](#cite-id-v9smbnbp95l)  
  
On March 22, 2018, it was announced that Upbit developed UBCI (Upbit Crypto Index), Korea's first cryptocurrency index.[\[3\]](#cite-id-cws9y4g27x)  
  
In December 2018, Upbit became the first cryptocurrency exchange in the world to receive certifications from the Korea Internet and Security Agency for Information Security Management System (ISMS) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for information security (ISO 27001), cloud security (ISO 27017) and cloud privacy (ISO 27018).[\[6\]](#cite-id-iwmupn1jot)  
  
In September 2018, the first Upbit Developer Conference (UDC) was held and hosted 600 companies and 7,000 attendees. Since then, this has been an annual event.[\[7\]](#cite-id-x5lm6ve3h8)  
  
On September 17, 2021, Upbit obtained the first virtual asset service provider (VASP) qualification. And as a result, a new customer verification system was implemented to comply with the Specific Financial Information Act.[\[8\]](#cite-id-gcqmzn1o32q)  
  
# Features  
  
On Upbit, users are able to interact with the platform over their mobile devices; this is similar to how users interact with Kakao's stock trading app, Kakao Stock. On the Kakao Stock platform, Korean [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) owners can trade digital assets within Korea's Kakao Talk messenger app. In addition, Upbit also provides an internal BitGo wallet, as well as the option to use Kakao's Mobile payment solution KakaoPay for added security.[\[9\]](#cite-id-g4u5f1rxq3f)  
  
Upbit is made available on both Desktop and mobile (iOS and Android) and it is accessible through any standard Web browser.[\[9\]](#cite-id-g4u5f1rxq3f)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](LZa-VEiUZn8)$$  
  
## Products  
  
* **Upbit Hot Wallet**: The digital wallet is used to store digital assets and is compatible with the ecosystem of apps that comes from Kakao Corp.  
* **KakaoTalk**: A messaging service with millions of active users, KakaoPay is the second-largest payment system in South Korea. This turns the leading exchange into a behemoth.  
    The brand also has an open API service that can be used to get real-time information and study the cryptocurrency marketplace.  
  
# Upbit Developer Conference(UDC)  
  
The Upbit Developer Conference (UDC) is the largest blockchain conference in Korea. The global [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) conference is hosted by Dunamu Inc. and is designed to further facilitate and expand the blockchain ecosystem.[\[7\]](#cite-id-x5lm6ve3h8)  
  
Since its first conference held in 2018, the UDC has transformed from a developer-centered meeting into one of the most awaited international conferences for developers, industry professionals, experts, students, and enthusiasts interested in blockchain technology.  
Speaking about the conference, [Travis Moore](https://iq.wiki/wiki/travis-moore) Co-founder of [IQ.wiki](https://iq.wiki/wiki/iqwiki) (formerly [Everipedia](https://iq.wiki/wiki/everipedia)) said:  
  
> Unlike a lot of traditional crypto conferences, UDC is actually focused on blockchain infrastructure which is something I think we really need.  
  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](aa8Lw0G5Zlw)$$  
  
## UDC 2018 ( September 12-14, 2018)  
  
Upbit Developer Conference 2018 lasted from September 13-14. 2018 in Jeju Island with the slogan "Proof of Developer," and was focused on promoting the latest [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology.[\[10\]](#cite-id-pcm988smhhe)  
  
## UDC 2019 ( September 4-5, 2019)  
  
Upbit Developer Conference 2019 (UDC 2019) was held on September 4-5, 2019 in South Korea’s Grand Hyatt Incheon with the theme ‘Proof of Services’. The event featured in-depth presentations on how various platforms, solutions, and services are bringing blockchain technology into the mainstream.[\[11\]](#cite-id-pfd4bl4506)  
  
## UDC 2020 ( November 30-December 4, 2020)  
  
UDC 2020 was a five-day online-only event geared towards blockchain developers and was broadcasted via the official UDC YouTube channel. UDC 2020 was themed 'return blockchain future; (Solving the Future with Blockchain)’, with the coding term ‘return’ representing the conference’s focus on the value blockchain technology will bring in the future.[\[12\]](#cite-id-rzlrhy6uhop)  
  
## UDC 2021 ( September 3-4, 2021)  
  
The 4th Upbit Developer Conference (UDC 2021) hosted by Dunamu Inc. was held in Seoul under the theme of ‘Welcome to the Blockchain World’. UDC 2021 was a two-day conference held online that covered the growing blockchain industry. The event received 8,000 preregistrations and around 65,000 total views.[\[13\]](#cite-id-ih1n4j27xp)  
  
## UDC 2022 ( September 22-23, 2021)  
  
UDC 2022, a two-day event hosted by Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, was held at the Busan Port International Exhibition ＆ Convention Center in person after two years of pandemic disruptions. The theme of the 2022 event was “Imaging Your Blockchain Life” and covered popular blockchain topics including non-fungible tokens, the metaverse, [Web3](https://iq.wiki/wiki/web3), and [smart contracts](https://iq.wiki/wiki/smart-contract).[\[14\]](#cite-id-g6hg53k7f)

Upbit is one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume across South Asian crypto markets.

Upbit

FTX was a [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) spot and derivatives exchange that filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 following a liquidity crisis. Prior to the collapse FTX was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, at its peak in 2021, had over one million users and was the third largest crypto exchange by volume. The exchange launched in May 2019 and provided its users with access to a range of trading products including [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) options, over 45 leveraged tokens, 20 perpetual swaps, and prediction markets.[\[1\]](#cite-id-nevwi4eh6gq)  
  
On November 11, 2022, FTX filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the US, leading to the resignation of CEO[ Sam Bankman-Fried](https://iq.wiki/wiki/sam-bankman-fried). It was discovered that FTX owed $9 billion in liabilities while holding under $1 billion in assets prior to its bankruptcy filing.[\[5\]](#cite-id-qfnb8a6y2z)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](AbgRB3arCpY)$$  
  
# Overview  
  
FTX exchange provided access to regular spot trading and supports transfers in fiat and a range of cryptocurrencies such as [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin), [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum), [Litecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/litecoin), and a selection of stablecoins.[\[3\]](#cite-id-cy8v3ib12r9) The platform also provided an over-the-counter service for anyone interested in making large crypto purchases. In addition, FTX had its own mobile app.[\[3\]](#cite-id-cy8v3ib12r9)  
  
FTX was founded in 2018 by [Sam Bankman-Fried](https://iq.wiki/wiki/sam-bankman-fried) who was once a trader on Jane Street Capital’s international ETF desk, and [Gary Wang](https://iq.wiki/wiki/gary-wang), who is a former Google software engineer. Prior to founding FTX, in 2017 the pair founded [Alameda Research](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alameda-research), a trading and cryptocurrency liquidity provider.[\[2\]](#cite-id-5dg1osgdqvi)  
  
# FTX and Alameda Research Collapse  
  
In November 2022, [FTX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ftx) was accused of using customer funds and suffered a liquidity crunch, leading to its native FTT token crash and the firm’s bankruptcy.[\[8\]](#cite-id-nkpdjdu79h9)  
  
On November 2nd, 2022, CoinDesk published a report based on a leaked [Alameda Research](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alameda-research) balance sheet which showed Alameda claiming to have $14.6 billion of assets as of June 30, of which most were reviewed to be majorly FTT tokens. The [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) lost about 10% in price on November 6th, 2022 after [Binance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance) CEO [Changpeng Zhao](https://iq.wiki/wiki/changpeng-zhao) announced it would liquidate its FTT holdings worth over $580 million. This forced FTX to stop customer withdrawals on November 8. An article by the *Wall Street Journal*, citing people familiar with the matter, claimed [FTX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ftx) used billions of dollars worth of customer funds on risky bets to help support Alameda.[\[8\]](#cite-id-nkpdjdu79h9)  
  
On November 11, 2022, FTX filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the US, leading to the resignation of CEO [Sam Bankman-Fried](https://iq.wiki/wiki/sam-bankman-fried) who was replaced by  John J. Ray III. It was discovered that [FTX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ftx) owed $9 billion in liabilities while holding under $1 billion in assets before its bankruptcy filing.[\[8\]](#cite-id-nkpdjdu79h9)  
  
In court documents, John J. Ray III described FTX as the worst case of financial mismanagement he had ever seen. [\[9\]](#cite-id-kpj2v5udlk)  
  
> "I have over 40 years of legal and restructuring experience. I have been the Chief Restructuring Officer or Chief Executive Officer in several of the largest corporate failures in history. I have supervised situations involving allegations of criminal activity and malfeasance (Enron). I have supervised situations involving novel financial structures (Enron and Residential Capital) and cross-border asset recovery and maximization (Nortel and Overseas Shipholding). Nearly every situation in which I have been involved has been characterized by defects of some sort in internal controls, regulatory compliance, human resources and systems integrity.  
>   
> Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here. From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented."  
  
  
Also, on November 12, [FTX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ftx) admins announced on Telegram that the platform has been hacked. The hacker had drained 400 billion Shiba Inu tokens worth $3.9 million and swapped them for [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) gaining 2,346 ETH. A day after, the hacker swapped $48.2 million worth of DAI [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) for 37,570 ETH. The hacker also converted $41 million in [BNB](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-coin) to ETH, among an array of other tokens.[\[6\]](#cite-id-7gi1c9jhf1r)  
  
On November 17, 2022, The Securities Commission of The Bahamas said it ordered all FTX Digital Markets Ltd (FDM) digital assets transferred to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission for Safekeeping.[\[7\]](#cite-id-hntxla98okn)

FTX is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange platform backed by Alameda Research. It was launched in May 2019.

FTX 

Decentralized Exchanges are peer-to-peer (p2p) [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain)-based platforms that enable direct [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) transactions between crypto traders. DEXs employ [smart contracts](https://iq.wiki/wiki/smart-contract) that execute orders without an intermediary under set conditions and record each transaction on the blockchain.[\[2\]](#cite-id-mrl54ap6l4g)[\[3\]](#cite-id-5la1xfrerw4)[\[4\]](#cite-id-47wn2rfujig)  
  
Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) operate without a central authority, therefore users remain in control of their private keys as they do not need to deposit their funds or submit a KYC verification when performing a trade. This reduces the risk of centralized hacking and theft, as well as price manipulation, as the users' crypto assets are stored on the [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain).[\[1\]](#cite-id-4ntg3h1v1ib)[\[5\]](#cite-id-vme1wjc936q)  
  
In Q1 2021, $217 billion in transactions occurred via decentralized exchanges. As of April 2021, there were more than two million [DeFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) traders, which is a ten-fold increase from May 2020. As of April 2022, according to [CoinMarketCap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/coinmarketcap) the top DEXs by Total Value Locked (TVL) are [Uniswap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uniswap), [PancakeSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pancakeswap), [Curve](https://iq.wiki/wiki/curve-finance), [SushiSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/sushiswap), [SpookySwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/spookyswap), and [QuickSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/quickswap).[\[6\]](#cite-id-ty6t9kzbgu)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](2tTVJL4bpTU)$$  
  
## History  
  
Although the first decentralized exchanges originally debuted in 2014, these platforms didn't really take off until decentralized financial services built on [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) gained popularity and [AMM](https://iq.wiki/wiki/automated-market-maker) technology enabled DEXs to overcome their previous liquidity issues.  
In January 2019, DEX platforms represented just 0.11% of global trade volume, but that number subsequently grew to 6% as of August 2020. The monthly trading volume on decentralized exchanges was $20 billion as of October 2020.  
In Q1 of 2021, decentralized exchanges saw a flow of $217 billion in transactions. As of April 2021, there were more than two million DeFi traders, a ten-fold increase from May 2020.[\[7\]](#cite-id-zfeudvr1vc)  
  
In Q3 2020, the trading volume on decentralized exchanges reached $42.6 billion, marking an increase of 1,132% on the previous quarter, according to a market study by TokenInsight. However, October saw figures drop a little from September highs, as [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) price started to surge, re-capturing traders' attention following the previous few months of decentralized finance boom. Trading volumes in July alone reached $5 billion, which was up one-third of the entire Q2 figure. Monthly volumes continued to rise throughout Q3, posting an average monthly increase of over 140%.[\[7\]](#cite-id-zfeudvr1vc)[\[8\]](#cite-id-3hbknc1br9n)  
  
The largest DEX [Uniswap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uniswap) was created on the [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) in 2018 by a former mechanical engineer who had learned to code only after getting laid off by Siemens the previous year. By late 2021, it processed transactions worth more than $1 billion daily.  
As of February 2022, according to [CoinGecko](https://iq.wiki/wiki/coingecko) data, Uniswap’s version 3 protocol handled almost $2 billion in trading volume on some days. It typically manages around three times the volume of its closest DEX competitors, such as [PancakeSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pancakeswap), which routinely handles $300 million to $600 million in daily volume.[\[3\]](#cite-id-5la1xfrerw4)  
  
# Overview  
  
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges are aimed at solving problems that are inherent in centralized exchanges. They create peer-to-peer markets directly on the [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain), which allows traders to independently store and control funds. Users of these exchanges can conduct cryptocurrency transactions directly with one another without the assistance of a third party.[\[9\]](#cite-id-xqes7p4908)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](5njKFYdxFxo)$$  
Decentralized services are either automatically supervised or manually monitored by the users. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) ensures the security of assets (DLT). The blockchains mostly utilized by DEXs include [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) (EtherDelta, [IDEX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/idex), etc.), Graphene ([BitShares](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitshares), CryptoBridge, etc.), or blockchains powered by other [cryptocurrencies](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) (Waves, [Switcheo](https://iq.wiki/wiki/switcheo), etc.).[\[9\]](#cite-id-xqes7p4908)  
  
Decentralized exchanges are run automatically or somewhat autonomously, with platform users participating in key decision-making. These platforms offer the technical ability for direct participant engagement and employ a distributed registry for the storage and processing of all, or almost all data. A decentralized exchange solely functions as a platform for matching buyers and sellers, and neither cash nor user data are stored on its servers.[\[9\]](#cite-id-xqes7p4908)  
  
## Tech  
  
There are several DEX designs, each offering different benefits and trade-offs in terms of feature sets, decentralization, and scalability. The two most common types are order book DEXs and [automated market makers](https://iq.wiki/wiki/automated-market-maker) (AMMs). DEX aggregators, which parse through multiple DEXs on-chain to find the best price or lowest gas cost for the user’s desired transaction, are also a widely used category.  
  
DEXs make use of blockchain technology and immutable [smart contracts](https://iq.wiki/wiki/smart-contract). They execute trades through smart contracts and on-chain transactions and allow users to maintain full custody of their funds via their self-hosted wallets during trading.[\[10\]](#cite-id-hz79gv56)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](rnVi-b7UqmY)$$  
DEX users are typically required to pay two types of fees—network fees and trading fees. Network fees refer to the gas cost of the on-chain transaction while trading fees are collected by the underlying protocol, its liquidity providers, token holders, or a combination of these stakeholders as specified by the design of the protocol.  
  
The idea behind many DEXs is to have a permissionless, accessible, end-to-end on-chain infrastructure with no central points of failure and decentralized ownership across a community of distributed stakeholders. This typically means that a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), made up of a community of stakeholders, governs protocol administrative rights by voting on crucial protocol decisions.[\[10\]](#cite-id-hz79gv56)  
  
## Use Cases  
  
### Crypto-to-Crypto Trading  
  
Peer-to-peer trading by users on DEXs can only be initiated with cryptocurrencies. Fiat currencies have no use case in DeFi so crypto-to-crypto trades using cryptocurrency pairs such as ETH/USDT are the only way to trade. However, [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) have made DeFi less volatile as users can essentially trade fiat using a stablecoin tethered to the value of a singular US dollar.[\[11\]](#cite-id-p8vrrx842h)  
  
### Transaction Storage  
  
Decentralized Exchange transactions are visible directly on the blockchain, making each transaction completely transparent. Although wallet addresses are anonymous, the blockchain allows for all transactions to be visible to anyone with access. DEXs are also built completely on open-source code, allowing anyone to see how they truly work, with Uniswaps code being used to create ample other DEXs such as Pancakeswap.[\[11\]](#cite-id-p8vrrx842h)  
  
### DeFi Access  
  
Decentralized Exchanges offer easy access into the world of DeFi, allowing users to anonymously get funds into DeFi protocols such as staking, without going through a centralized exchange.[\[11\]](#cite-id-p8vrrx842h)  
  
# Types of DEXs  
  
## Order Book DEXs  
  
Order books keep track of all open purchase and sell orders for certain asset pairs. Sell orders show that a trader is prepared to ask for a specific price to sell an asset, whereas buy orders show that a trader is eager to acquire or bid for an asset at that price. The size of the order book and the market price on the exchange is determined by the difference between these values.[\[12\]](#cite-id-3m88s104hnc)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](HooLzrdgmwE)$$  
Order book DEXs have two types: On-chain Order Books and Off-chain Order books.  
  
### On-chain Order Books  
  
On-chain order books are hosted directly on the distributed ledger, all orders are sent to the distributed ledger network and are confirmed by the network in on-chain order books. Anyone can host and access a copy of the order book, and anyone may submit their own orders to be included in the order book as long as the distributed ledger is public.[\[4\]](#cite-id-47wn2rfujig)  
  
When DEXs use Order Books, Open Order information is frequently kept on-chain while user funds are kept in their wallets. These exchanges might permit traders to use funds lent to them by lenders on their platform to leverage their positions. Leveraged trading increases the earning potential of a trade, but it also increases the risk of liquidation as it enhances the size of the position with borrowed funds, which have to be repaid even if the traders lose their bet.  
  
Examples of decentralized exchanges that use On-chain Order Books include [BitShares](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitshares) and [Stellar](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stellarterm).[\[12\]](#cite-id-3m88s104hnc)  
  
### Off-chain Order Books  
  
Off-chain order books are order books that are hosted by a centralized entity outside of a distributed ledger. The centralized entity helps parties discover other parties who make offers on the asset and can restrict access to view or submit to the order book. The practicality of using an on-chain or off-chain order book depends significantly on the performance of the chain. Decentralized exchanges normally do not employ on-chain order books given that every order and adjustment to an on-chain order book would require an update to the blockchain, thereby incurring transaction fees and wait time.  
  
On certain chains, transaction fees are negligible and wait times are on the order of seconds. Under these circumstances, an on-chain order book is practical for moderate volumes of intermittent orders. Comparatively, on the Ethereum blockchain, transaction fees are non-negligible and wait times are on the order of minutes. Using an Ethereum on-chain order book would likely incur expensive transaction fees and debilitating wait times. For this reason, some prominent decentralized exchanges on Ethereum make use of Off-chain Order Books such as [0x Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/0x), [AirSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/airswap), EtherDelta, and [IDEX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/idex).[\[12\]](#cite-id-3m88s104hnc)  
  
## Automated Market Makers (AMM)  
  
An automated market maker (AMM) system that relies on [smart contracts](https://iq.wiki/wiki/smart-contract) was created to solve the liquidity problem. These exchanges were partly inspired by a paper on decentralized exchanges written by [Vitalik Buterin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/vitalik-buterin), a co-founder of Ethereum, which explained how to carry out trades on the blockchain using contracts holding tokens.[\[13\]](#cite-id-dsyz1xrtyvi)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](0giJnX7k4hE)$$  
These AMMs rely on blockchain-based services known as blockchain [oracles](https://iq.wiki/wiki/oracle) to determine the price of traded assets by gathering data from exchanges and other platforms. The smart contracts of these decentralized exchanges use pre-funded pools of assets known as [liquidity pools](https://iq.wiki/wiki/liquidity-pool) rather than matching purchase orders and sell orders.  
  
The pools are funded by other users who are then entitled to the transaction fees that the protocol charges for executing trades on that pair. These liquidity providers need to deposit an equivalent value of each asset in the trading pair to earn interest on their cryptocurrency holdings, a process known as liquidity mining. The smart contract powering the pool invalidates any attempts to deposit more of one asset than the other.  
  
The use of liquidity pools allows traders to execute orders or to earn interest in a permissionless and trustless way. These exchanges are often ranked according to the amount of funds locked in their smart contracts called total value locked (TVL). Some popular AMM DEXs include [Bancor](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bancor), [Balancer](https://iq.wiki/wiki/balancer), [Curve](https://iq.wiki/wiki/curve-finance), [PancakeSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pancakeswap), [Sushiswap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/sushiswap), [Trader Joe](https://iq.wiki/wiki/trader-joe), and [Uniswap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uniswap).[\[10\]](#cite-id-hz79gv56)  
  
### Prediction Market AMMs  
  
Prediction markets use automated market makers so that they act as the "house," taking the opposite side of all trades. Doing so ensures that participants are always able to make a trade, effectively creating or "making" the market. In order to make the market, the platform must set a price for each stock. Prices are typically set using a market scoring rule, which is a term for a mathematical equation that produces a price for the stock and a cost for a trade.[\[14\]](#cite-id-xgje0lgku8)  
  
## DEX Aggregators  
  
Decentralized exchange aggregators are trading protocols that work by sourcing and routing liquidity throughout multiple DEXs according to specified requirements. These platforms essentially aggregate liquidity from several DEXs to minimize slippage on large orders, optimize swap fees and token prices and offer traders the best price possible in the shortest possible time As a result, DEX aggregators don’t have any need for servicing traders exclusively from their own liquidity pools.[\[15\]](#cite-id-3ms0x8ubl3w)  
  
Some of the popular of DEX aggregators include [1inch](https://iq.wiki/wiki/1inch), [ParaSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/paraswap), OpenOcean, and [Orion Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/orion-protocol).[\[16\]](#cite-id-55misouwq0y)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](hSxf4jAN7YQ)$$  
  
## List of DEXs  
  
Here is a list of some popular DEXs[\[17\]](#cite-id-x4saakq2xd):  
  
* [Uniswap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uniswap)  
* [Stellar](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stellarterm)  
* [Synthetix](https://iq.wiki/wiki/synthetix)  
* [PancakeSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pancakeswap)  
* [THORChain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/thorchain)  
* [Curve DAO Token](https://iq.wiki/wiki/curve-dao-token)  
* [1INCH Network](https://iq.wiki/wiki/1inch)  
* [Loopring](https://iq.wiki/wiki/loopring)  
* [Gnosis](https://iq.wiki/wiki/gnosis)  
* [Balancer](https://iq.wiki/wiki/balancer)  
* [0x](https://iq.wiki/wiki/0x)  
* [Serum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/serum)  
* [SushiSwap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/sushiswap)

Decentralized Exchanges are peer-to-peer (p2p) blockchain-based platforms that enable direct cryptocurrency transactions between crypto traders.

Decentralized Exchange

Binance DEX (launched in 2019) is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on [BNB Chain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-smart-chain) that allows exchanging digital assets issued and listed on it. The matching happens within the [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) nodes and all of the transactions are recorded on-chain, therefore forming a complete, auditable ledger of activity[\[1\]](#cite-id-ss7sgrbp00s)[\[2\]](#cite-id-7ivtaz37pl4).  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](01woWhEpHEk)$$  
  
# Overview  
  
Binance DEX is a decentralized exchange and an extension of the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily volume, [Binance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance). Binance DEX is built on [BNB Chain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-smart-chain).  
  
The testnet was launched on February 24, 2019, and this is what founder [Changpeng Zhao](https://iq.wiki/wiki/changpeng-zhao) said at the time of launch:  
  
> "Binance DEX is a decentralized exchange with a decentralized network of nodes, where you hold your own private keys and manage your own wallet,” said Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance. “With Binance DEX, we provide a different balance of security, freedom and ease-of-use, where you take more responsibility and are in more control of your assets."[\[2\]](#cite-id-7ivtaz37pl4)[\[14\]](#cite-id-b4m09a7jrht)[\[15\]](#cite-id-2a6u2zjvtd1)  
  
After two months of testnet, a period involving nearly 8.5 million transactions across a simulated trading competition, coding competition, bug bounty program, and new updates and enhancements, the first version of mainnet was released on April 23, 2019. The mainnet was released along with the launching of [BNB Chain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-smart-chain) and so [Binance Coin (BNB)](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-coin) migrated from [ERC20](https://iq.wiki/wiki/erc-20) standards to BEP-2 to become the native asset on BNB Chain, and also Binance DEX, where it is used as a base token to assist network transactions. The users were allowed to create wallets using Binance's official Trust Wallet and also third-party wallets like [Enjin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/enjin) Crypto Wallet, Magnum Wallet, Coinomi Wallet, [Atomic Wallet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/atomic-wallet-coin), ZelCore Wallet, Infinito Wallet, Math Wallet, Ellipal Wallet, Guarda Wallet, Exodus Wallet, and also hardware wallets, [Ledger](https://iq.wiki/wiki/power-ledger) and CoolWallet. The users also gained access to the Binance Chain Explorer, web wallet, public data nodes, and APIs, but actual trading began later[\[1\]](#cite-id-ss7sgrbp00s)[\[21\]](#cite-id-75c4wzi07vi).  
  
CZ believed that this would start a new era for financial systems and he also asked the community to come forward and give input for the same. This is what he stated:  
  
> “We believe decentralized exchanges bring new hope and new possibilities, offering a trustless and transparent financial system,” said CZ (Changpeng Zhao), CEO of Binance. “With no central custody of funds, Binance DEX offers far more control over your own assets. We hope this brings a new level of freedom to our community. We will work closely with projects and teams to grow the entire ecosystem.”[\[16\]](#cite-id-06wdyiydzjr8)[\[17\]](#cite-id-rk6buticfzq)  
  
On September 1, 2020, [BNB Chain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-smart-chain), a parallel chain to Binance main chain was launched. It enabled the creation of smart contracts and the staking mechanism for [BNB](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-coin). It helps the whole Binance ecosystem to grow because of cheaper transaction fees with a high-performance network (with a block every 3 sec), increasing cross-chain interoperability by using [DeFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) mechanisms, bootstrapping and investing in many DeFi projects, and collaborating with many [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) and crypto projects. So currently, Binance DEX is powered by a dual-chain system and because of BSC, it will get more and more volume using cross-chain interoperable mechanisms and [decentralized applications](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-application) (DApps)[\[18\]](#cite-id-7larvrtz3kg)[\[19\]](#cite-id-lpmgemmdzw).  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](wN1Uvor4Hd8)$$  
  
## The Dual Chain Model  
  
Binance DEX is first developed on a Binance Chain (BC) that allowed anyone to create, issue, and trade assets on the [Binance Smart Chain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-smart-chain) and Binance DEX. Binance Smart Chain (BSC) enabled the writing of smart contracts which help to develop a [decentralized application (DApp)](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-application) and bring liquidity to Binance DEX using interoperable mechanisms from other [blockchains ](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain)like [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum), [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) and others. The BC and BSC are compatible and can communicate with each other[\[20\]](#cite-id-dyx3owhxs1)[\[32\]](#cite-id-3d9ivmussoh).  
  
| Parameter | Binance Chain | Binance Smart Chain |  
| --------- | ------------- | ------------------- |  
| Type | Main Chain | Parallel Chain |  
| Consensus Mechanism | Dpos (Delegated-Proof-Of-Stake) | Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) |  
| Number of block validators | 11 | up to 21 |  
| Mean Block Time | < 1 second | < 5 seconds |  
| Programmability | Non-Compatible to EVM | Supports Ethereum Virtual Machine smart contracts |  
| Token creation | Can only issue token (BEP-2) on Binance Chain | Can create a tokenized form for foreign assets (BEP-20 = Cross-chain BEP-2) on Binance Chain |  
| Cross-chain | BEP3 introduces 'Hash Timer Locked Contract' functions and further mechanisms to handle inter-blockchain tokens peg. | BSC comes with efficient native dual chain communication; Optimized for scaling high-performance dApps that require a fast and smooth user experience. |  
  
# Features  
  
## Functionality  
  
Binance DEX has a very similar user interface to Binance centralized exchange and it utilizes a web-based trading platform. It has also integrated TradingView charts which offer a full range of technical indicators for traders. The core function of the platform that it allows users to create their own wallets and hold their own private keys along with support to alternative third-party software and hardware wallets including popular wallets like Atomic Wallet, Ledger, and others.  
  
## Technology  
  
The exchange is built on the Binance Chain therefore it has advantages like one-second block time with near-instant transaction finality. As a result, it can support similar trading volumes as cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, although it uses a different order matching engine. It uses a periodic auction technique to match all available orders, and as the match happens simultaneously for all orders with the same price in every auction, it put an end to the role of market makers and takers.  
  
## Security  
  
Similar to other decentralized exchanges, Binance DEX doesn’t take custody of user funds, and the users and traders maintain control of their wallets, private keys, and their funds. Binance Chain runs on Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) and Proof-of-stake (PoS) based consensus mechanism that involves a series of qualified block validators and makes use of a number of anti-front running mechanisms to maintain the treading integrity of the exchange.  
  
# Binance DEX vs Binance  
  
Binance is a centralized exchange and it is hosted on servers while Binance DEX is a decentralized exchange built on Binance Chain. Apart from this primary difference, there are many additional key differences.  
  
| Type | Binance | Binance DEX |  
| ---- | ------- | ----------- |  
| Nature | Hosted on centralized servers | Decentralized exchange built on a Binance public blockchain |  
| Fund Control | The exchange wallet controls the funds of the user. | The user can create wallet or use any preferable third party wallet to control and use funds. The is user is responsible for the funds. |  
| Type of Orders | The user can trade using both market order or limit order. | Only limit order is accepted as order are processed every block. |  
| KYC | Requires KYC for large withdrawals (over 2 BTC per day). | Doesn't require KYC. |  
| Order Matching | Order matches up bids and offers to complete trades. It is continuous like on most of the centralized exchanges. | Order matching is done using periodic auction matching for all the existing open orders received in the past and the latest blocks. |  
| Market Makers and Takers | They play a big role. The market makers create an order that provides liquidity, which is useful for market takers to buy or sell instantly. | There is no role for maker makers and takers as orders are processed at once. |  
  
# Order Matching  
  
## Matching Logic  
  
As blocks are produced at the regular interval, order matching takes place using periodic auction matching for all open orders received in the past up to the latest block. It uses a discrete matching engine. The orders are collected every block and all open orders up to the latest block are matched at the end of that block.  
  
### Principles of the Matching Engine  
  
1. Matching is attempted 1 time each block.  
2. Matching occurs when the highest bid price is higher than the lowest ask price.  
3. Only 1 price is selected in each block, determined as the fill price among all the fillable orders.  
4. Order matching is prioritized first by price aggressiveness, then second by time (block height) that they are accepted.  
  
#### Order Matching Process  
  
Every matching attempt occurs after a block is recorded on the chain (mined and verified). The matching attempt follows the below steps determining block fill price from the following factors:  
  
Determining block fill price\*from the following factors  
  
* Maximum executable volume  
* Minimum surplus  
* Market pressure  
* Reference price  
  
Allocating order fills using rules  
  
* Orders with the highest bid price will match with the orders with the lowest ask price.  
* If all bids or asks at the block fill price cannot be fully-filled by the respective asks or bids, orders from the earliest blocks are selected and filled first.  
* If all bids or asks at the block fill price cannot be fully filled by the respective asks or bids, and arrive in the same block, allocated execution will be in proportion to their quantity (floored if the number has a partial lot). If the allocation cannot be divided equally, a deterministic algorithm will guarantee a fair selection using a random order ID.  
  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](7pRkeHgxig0)$$  
  
# Trading  
  
![ggpng.png](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmaWAC4t1sNn2Y5BniXshoqFJkW9hwcNZy6qNn4ZKH5WkL)*Binance DEX Trading Interface*  
  
To log in and trade on Binance DEX, a user needs a BNB Chain-compatible wallet. The wallet can be created on the website itself or any compatible third-party wallet like Trust Wallet, SafePal, CoolWallet S, Math Wallet, Meet.one, Equal, Atomic Wallet that can be used via the WalletConnect interface. The users can also use hardware wallets like Ledger. Since it is a non-custodial decentralized exchange, the user is in control and responsible for the funds[\[35\]](#cite-id-l5evwpi5nhn)[\[40\]](#cite-id-hf480pzv0rh).  
  
The Binance DEX currently has two different interfaces, one for BEP-2 assets and one for BEP-8 (mini BEP tokens). The user doesn't need a different wallet and can log in using the same wallet for both interfaces. Both interfaces are very similar to the [Binance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance) exchange.  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](jVvc_wLyywI)$$  
  
## Token Standards  
  
Binance Chain and Binance DEX have their own native token Binance Coin ([BNB](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-coin)), but anyone can issue and implement tokens on the BNB Chain and make them available for trading. These tokens generally follow one of the standards mentioned below.  
  
### BEP-2  
  
The BEP-2 token technical standard on Binance Chain is similar to Ethereum's ERC20. Examples of BEP-2 tokens are Thorchain (RUNE), Fantom (FTM), and Atomic Wallet (AWC). The other major cryptocurrencies like Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT) and many others also have their tokenized BEP-2 form.  
  
### BEP-8  
  
These are created for many small, promising projects. These are also called mini BEP-2 tokens as they require lesser fees to mint. Examples of BEP-8 tokens are FUTSWAP, JPIN, VRTN, and others.  
  
### BEP-20  
  
The BEP-20 is a token standard on [BNB Chain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-smart-chain) that extends [ERC-20](https://iq.wiki/wiki/erc-20). Due to its similarity to BEP-2 and ERC-20, it’s compatible with both. This represents a tokenized form of assets created on other blockchains. (e.g. LINK, XRP). Because of compatible architecture, BEP-2 tokens can be swapped for their BEP-20 equivalent. To move tokens from one chain to another (i.e., BEP-2 to BEP-20 or vice versa), it is possible to use the Binance Chain Wallet, available on Google Chrome and Firefox.  
  
## Binance Bridge  
  
The Binance Bridge is a cross-chain bridging service that aims to increase interoperability between different blockchains. It allows users to exchange assets between different blockchains. The users can convert crypto assets into (and back from) BNB Chain wrapped tokens. By using it, the users can bring their digital assets such as BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, XPR, LINK, ATOM, DOT, XTZ, ONT, and more to the BNB Chain ecosystem. It can support the cross-chain conversion of other cryptocurrencies and tokens to Binance BEP-2 or BEP-20 standards. Currently, the Binance Bridge supports ERC-20 and TRC-20 cross-chain transfers. By using Binance Bridge, the users can convert any digital asset to its BEP-2 format and then trade it on Binance DEX.  
  
In January 2021, Binance Bridge added a new feature of buying BNB as gas. When users swap their tokens to the BEP-20 equivalents on Binance Smart Chain, they could choose to buy some BNB to pay for gas at the same time. The supported tokens list includes BTC, ETH, USDT, BUSD, and the total of a user's swap order has to be greater than 2BNB.  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](8tK5JTIekHk)$$  
  
## Trading Interface  
  
Once a user signs in using any of the mentioned wallets, they can trade BEP-2, and BEP-8 tokens going to their respective portals. If a user doesn't have any funds in their wallet, they have an option to purchase either BNB or BUSD to fund their wallet using their party fiat to crypto gateway provider - MoonPay. The users can also swap other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Polkadot (DOT), and others using Binance Bridge to get corresponding BEP-2 tokens. Users can also change the connected node if they want.  
  
The Binance DEX trading page is designed to provide a user-friendly trading interface and it is composed of the following parts:  
  
* Trading Pairs Info: the tokens are paired similarly to the [Binance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance) exchange. BEP-2 tokens are paired with native token Binance Coin ([BNB](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-coin)) and a few BEP-2 tokens are also paired with BTC, ALTS (ETH and DAI), and fiat (mostly fiat-backed stablecoin like [Binance USD](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-usd) (BUSD), TrueUSD (TUSD), etc). The users can switch between the markets by using tabs and can select their desired market.  
* Trading View Chart: once the user selects the desired pair, they can see the TradingView chart, which displays information and price action of the selected pair. The chart allows the trades to display indicators such as the RSI, moving average, etc., and also use tools available on the TradingView portal. The 'depth' tab shows market depth, i.e. the overall level and breadth of open orders, and usually refers to trading within individual trading pairs. The number of levels can be zoomed in and out. The key indicator of this market depth is the spread. The spread is the gap between the bid and the ask prices. If the bid price of a token is $19 and the asking price for the same is $20, then the spread for the token in question is 1 divided by the lowest ask price to yield a bid-ask spread of 5% (1 / $20 x 100).  
* Trade History and Orderbook: the order book shows a list of open orders on the exchange The top half shows sell orders and the bottom half lists the buy orders for the selected pair. The trading history shows all the trades executed for particular selected pair.  
* Trading Activities: this is the section where users can check their open orders, order history, trade history, and balances. The open orders show orders which are not filled in their entirety and are still currently open. The order history shows the user placed orders which are filled, unfilled, or canceled. The trade history shows user-executed trades and the balances show the current available balance in the user's wallet. The users can view all of the orders on the blockchain by looking at their transaction hash.  
* Order Form: Binance DEX currently only supports limit orders. The limit order section allows a user to define the bid/ask price and the quantity they wish to trade.  
  
# Tokenomics and Fees  
  
[Binance Coin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/binance-coin) (BNB) is the native currency of BNB Chain and also Binance DEX. It has a total supply of 170,532,785 BNB[\[39\]](#cite-id-4ohbzr4lno)[\[41\]](#cite-id-ko6nhnddt7s).  
  
All the fees on Binance DEX are charged in BNB. The fees on Binance DEX are designed with complex logic because of the block-based order-matching engine. It means that individual trades are not charged exactly by the rates mentioned below, but between them instead. There are two types of fees, Trading Fees and Fix Fees.  
  
## Trading Fees  
  
Trading Fees are applied for trading activity on Binance DEX and the current fee for trades, applied on the settled amount, is as follows:  
  
| Transaction Type | Pay in Non-BNB asset | Pay in BNB |  
| ---------------- | -------------------- | ---------- |  
| Trade | 0.1% | 0.04% |  
  
### Fix Fees  
  
The difference between Binance Chain and Ethereum is that there is no notion of gas. As a result, fees for the rest transactions are fixed. Anyone can create and issue tokens on Binance Chain, therefore there will be fees for issuing, minting, or burning the tokens. Similarly, all the other activities like listing tokens, transfers, and multi-send are charged with fees in BNB. The DEX-related fixed fees are tabularized below.  
  
| Transaction Type | Pay in Non-BNB asset | Pay in BNB |  
| ---------------- | -------------------- | ---------- |  
| New Order | 0 | 0 |  
| Cancel Order (No Fill) | Equivalent 0.00025 BNB | 0.00005 BNB |  
| Order Expiry (No Fill) | Equivalent 0.00025 BNB | 0.00005 BNB |  
| IOC (No Fill) | Equivalent 0.0001 BNB | 0.000025 BNB |  


Binance DEX (launched in 2019) is a DEX built on Binance Chain that allows exchanging digital assets issued and listed on it. 

Binance DEX

Coinbase is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange platform for buying, selling, transferring, and storing cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase

Binance is a Centralized global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading various cryptocurrencies. 

Binance

BakerySwap (Founded in 2020) is a decentralized protocol offering a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) and automated market-making (AMM) on the Binance Smart Chain. The ticker symbol is BAKE and the total supply is 144,606,918. BAKE Tokens enables one to earn a share of trading fees and also participate in BakerySwap’s voting[\[2\]](#cite-id-ofekz9ikap)[\[3\]](#cite-id-pp1u8s72jgp)[\[4\]](#cite-id-f7qxjvjzx7).  
   
BakerySwap is inspired by Uniswap, a popular DeFi (Decentralized Finance) network. It’s similar to Uniswap but cheaper and faster[\[5\]](#cite-id-xxah12kljft)[\[6\]](#cite-id-w8pyybn7vc).  
  
# Overview  
  
![Screenshot_2020-10-29-BakerySwappng.png](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/Qmeyx2c7HmdPgyqp8EqTtdfGWxRYsEECGgyqYqpnEYdKJy)*BakerySwap Launchpad*  
BakerySwap is developed by an anonymous team. The team claims to have the interest of Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) at heart. As such, it allows for full community involvement in decision-making.  
  
BakerySwap is a decentralized protocol offering automated market-making (AMM) on BSC. The protocol is an AMM Decentralized Exchange (DEX). It’s similar to Uniswap but cheaper and faster. The platform has a native token called BAKE, which enhances interactions within the AMM DEX ecosystem.  
  
The DeFi (Decentralized Finance) project chose to harness the power of the Binance blockchain due to its low gas fees. Apart from fees, BSC has higher scalability than Ethereum. Therefore, BakerySwap can achieve a higher transaction speed while keeping costs down.  
  
By being hosted on the Binance Smart Chain, it provides major benefits to the Binance community. For instance, it carries arbitrage functionalities for tokens powered by either the Binance DEX or its centralized counterpart, Binance.com.  
  
Notably, the tokens must follow BSC’s BEP20 and BEP2 token standards.  
  
# BakerySwap’s Native Currency (BAKE)  
  
BakerySwap tokens are the fuel that drives community voting hence contributing to the protocol’s governance. This provides transparency in the running and decision-making process despite the platform being developed by an anonymous team.  
  
All trades on the AMM DEX impose a 0.30 percent fee from which liquidity providers take 0.25 percent. The remaining is baked into the platform’s native currency and distributed to token holders in the form of rewards.  
  
The Bakery protocol uses a multiplier to determine how much rewards are in a pool. The multiplier can either be 1X, 3X, or 10X. Note that the multiplier is based on how much value liquidity pools provide to BAKE holders.  
  
BAKE did not have a pre-mine; neither did it hold a pre-sale. Additionally, there’s no special BAKE allocation to the Bakery development team. However, although there’s no token allocation to the team, the team receives one percent of all BAKE farmed. BAKE has a total supply of 144,606,918 tokens.  
  
So, without a pre-mine, pre-sale, and no team allocation, how’s BAKE distributed? Well, the token is accessible via liquidity pools. The network groups liquidity pools into two; with BAKE rewards and without BAKE rewards[\[7\]](#cite-id-8mqk8vdqul6).  
  
# BAKE and NFTs  
  
BakerySwap has incorporated Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) into its ecosystem. The platform is the first on BSC to combine the two worlds; AMM and NFT.  
  
It allows BAKE holders to bake a meal of their choice, referred to as a “combo meal.” Apart from being a collectible, the meal can be used to farm BAKE coins. Every meal carries a staking power allowing it to earn more BAKE when staked.  
  
Additionally, the meal can be traded, or its ingredients dismantled back to BAKE. Dismantling or decomposing a meal gives back 90 percent of the BAKE used to prepare the meal. This functionality is ideal where a combo meal doesn’t arouse the appetites of those in the BakerySwap ecosystem.  
  
So, instead of holding on to it, and to avoid it becoming stale, you can decompose it. However, combos can only exist in four levels; primary, regular, luxury, and supreme. A combo’s level is determined by the amount of BAKE tokens used in its preparation.  
  
The higher the level, the more the staking power residing in the combo. BakerySwap is also on track to bring the combos to the open market via its “NFT Supermarket” platform.  
  
# BakerySwap Launchpad  
  
Bakery has a launchpad that caters to unique upcoming projects. The first project on the platform was Battle Pets. Investments in the project were made using either BUSD, BAKE, or BNB, with each PET token retailing for $0.03. Depending on the investment, users either get a kitten, puppy, or bunny.  
  
# How to Farm BAKE  
  
Assets from liquidity providers are converted into Bakery’s liquidity pool tokens that can be staked to farm BAKE. Apart from representing a provider’s share in the pool, the pool tokens entitle a liquidity provider to receive a section of fees charged in the pool.  
  
# How To Bake  
  
* Access the official Bakery website (https://www.bakeryswap.org/#/home) and connect to BSC using MetaMask.  
* On MetaMask, head over to the settings section and change the network name to “Binance Smart Chain, ” input the RPC URL as “https://bsc-dataseed1.binance.org/,” type 56 on ChainID, use the BNB as the symbol, and point the block explorer to “https://bscscan.com/”.  
* Next, head over to Binance and either buy BNB or transfer your existing coins to MetaMask. Note: on the withdrawal page, remember to select “BEP20”.  
* Provide your MetaMask BEP20 address and wait for BEP20 BNB to arrive in your MetaMask wallet.  
  
Now that you have whipped some BNB in a bowl, it’s time to enter into the Bakery. At this point, you are presented with two options “Swap” and “Pool.”  
  
* Select the trading pair and hit Swap, and confirm the transaction on MetaMask. Note that the protocol supports swapping in six pairs. For example, you can swap BNB with BAKE, Bitcoin (BTC), DOT, Ethereum (ETH), LINK, or Binance stablecoin (BUSD).  
* In the next step, specify the number of tokens you wish to provide as liquidity.  
* Hit “Supply” and confirm your decision on MetaMask.  
* Enjoy your Bakery liquidity pool tokens (BLP).  
  
# How To Stake BLP To Receive Bake  
  
Staking BLP is done through the “Earn BAKE” option. The platform has several options, such as Doughnut, Croissant, Toast, Cake, Cookies, and Pineapple bun. Each option provides a different coin for staking. For example, the Croissant option supports BLP tokens from a BUSD/BNB swap while the Toast option accommodates BLP coins from an ETH/BNB swap.  
  
* Choose the right option and click the “Approve XXX-BNB BLP” where XXX is the token you swapped with BNB. In the case of a Croissant, that would be “Approve BUSD-BNB BLP.”  
* Click the “add” sign > stake > confirm transaction. Therefore, You are ready to harvest your BAKE tokens.  
  
# Conclusion  
  
BakerySwap has provided another DeFi (Decentralized Finance) dimension. For example, it has combined AMM with NFTs. Therefore, instead of yield farmers only waiting for rewards from the normal staking process, they can whip up an NFT asset and sell it to other participants in the ecosystem.  
  
With a “decompose” functionality, NFT creators don’t have to worry that their creation won’t be marketable since they can seamlessly convert them back to BAKE tokens.  
  
Additionally, an anonymous team providing a DAO-based governance structure enhances trust among BAKE investors. The presence of a launchpad is also a unique addition to the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) ecosystem. It gives upcoming blockchain-based projects more ways to attract investments[\[8\]](#cite-id-m13fjkeik2n).

BakerySwap (Founded in 2020) is a decentralized protocol offering a DEX and AMM on BSC

BakerySwap

Gemini is a digital currency exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Gemini is a New York trust company that is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Gemini was founded in 2014, by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.  
  
# Overview  
  
In June 2016, according to CNBC report, Gemini became the world's first licensed ether exchange. In May 2018, it was announced that Gemini had become the world’s first licensed Zcash exchange. Currently, it operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.[\[1\]](#cite-id-9uxi4mx6vhq)  
  
Primary competitors include Coinbase, Binance, Bitstamp, and Kraken. All users are able to trade cryptocurrency and fiat currency on an open market. Users are able to transfer USD to and from their bank accounts.  
  
Gemini began in order to facilitate the purchase and storage of Bitcoin through a complex system of private keys and password protected environments. Only a small percentage of the total bitcoin on the exchange is held online to minimize the risk of loss from hacking.  As pointed out by the site *Profit Confidential* regarding compromised exchanges:[\[2\]](#cite-id-v0gv27q3yml)  
  
> *To be perfectly honest, there is no yes or no answer to the “Are Ethereum exchanges safe” question. Going purely on past records, they are safe though exchanges like Poloniex have been hacked. This does not make Poloniex any less safe than the others. People who hack exchanges are constantly upgrading their methods, and likewise, the exchanges are trying to stay a step ahead. The best bet is to use offline storage of ETHs once the transaction is complete.[\[5\]](#cite-id-nnnriuatej)*  
  
*The New York Times* has reported that Gemini is trusted by Ari Paul, of the hedge fund BlockTower Capital, who deals in virtual currency.  According to reports by both Bloomberg News and *Fortune* magazine, Gemini was the first exchange to launch bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017. *Fortune* reported that Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) uses Gemini "as the basis for the daily settlement for the bitcoin futures".[\[2\]](#cite-id-v0gv27q3yml)  
  
# History  
  
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss announced Gemini in June 2013  and the company went live on October 25, 2015. Gemini began adding to the financial services it offers thereafter, some of which include FIX and API support. On May 5, 2016 Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State announced the approval of Gemini as the first licensed Ethereum exchange based in the United States.  Additionally, in 2016, Gemini announced it would allow users to withdraw Ethereum Classic (ETC) from the exchange, following a hard fork in Ethereum's code.[\[3\]](#cite-id-8pq2b5vi3rp)[\[4\]](#cite-id-po9manz5z6)  
  
In October 2017, Gemini announced that it was allowing registered users to withdraw Bitcoin Cash from the exchange provided they had a balance available on the exchange prior to the Bitcoin hard fork in August 2017.[\[5\]](#cite-id-nnnriuatej)  
  
*Fortune* reported that Cboe uses Gemini to settle its Bitcoin futures contracts, "XBT", in December 2017.  Cboe partnered with Gemini so as to use Gemini's dollar denominated auction price for these contracts.[\[12\]](#cite-id-3tp8e0ke9df)  
  
According to Bloomberg News, Gemini began offering "Block Trading" in April 2018. Block Trading enables Gemini users to buy and sell large quantities of digital assets outside of Gemini's continuous order books, creating an additional liquidity mechanism when trading in greater size.[\[10\]](#cite-id-1rdi7b06pxf)  
  
The Winklevoss twins said that their main goal in 2018 was to add Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.[\[9\]](#cite-id-hxh29o6zey9)  
  
In March 2018, Gemini added a number of partnerships and products to its portfolio and network. It announced a partnership with Caspian, the full-stack cryptocurrency trading and risk management platform for institutional and complex investors.[\[6\]](#cite-id-c4v28ccoj3r)[\[7\]](#cite-id-36c6pp2zi34)  
  
In April 2018, it was reported by Reuters that Gemini would be utilizing NASDAQ's SMARTS technology to monitor trades and combat fraudulent activity and price manipulation on its exchange.[\[13\]](#cite-id-bm4sk9fohs4)  
  
On May 14, 2018, the New York Department of Financial Services announced it had approved Gemini to offer Zcash (ZEC) on their platform. The NYDFS commented that its decision was a "continuation of New York's longstanding commitment to innovation and leadership in the marketplace." Gemini's CEO, Tyler Winklevoss, was quoted in the same press-release saying that Gemini "is proud to be the first licensed exchange in the world to offer Zcash trading and custody services."[\[1\]](#cite-id-9uxi4mx6vhq)  
  
On September 10th, 2018, Bloomberg News reported that Gemini had received regulatory approval for a new product, the Gemini dollar (GUSD) from the NYDFS and would launch trading of the coin that same day. Gemini described the product as a stablecoin which maintains a 1-to-1 peg with the American dollar.[\[13\]](#cite-id-bm4sk9fohs4)  
  
On October 3rd, it was announced that Gemini had obtained digital asset insurance covering tokens and coins held on its exchange. *Bloomberg Markets* reported that the insurance had been brokered by Aon, a London based public risk consulting company, and underwritten by a consortium of global underwriters  .[\[11\]](#cite-id-m5njjflku6j)[\[12\]](#cite-id-3tp8e0ke9df)  
  
# 2019 Ad Campaign  
  
Gemini launched an out-of-home ad campaign around Manhattan in January of 2019. *The Wall Street Journal* reported that the ad campaign was directed at providing wary investors with a "Shelter in a storm" that is fully regulated and compliant with existing American cryptocurrency regulation.[\[10\]](#cite-id-1rdi7b06pxf)  
  
# Service disruptions  
  
The site's primary challenge has been remaining online at times of excessively high volumes, a relatively common occurrence for any website receiving an unusual amount of traffic.   On November 28, 2017, for example, both Gemini and Coinbase crashed for several hours. Gemini was showing a "504 gateway time-out" message, and the status page showed "Systems are currently experiencing degraded performance."  Subsequently, the Gemini Blog offered this comment. "This is not the first scaling challenge we’ve encountered, and it won’t be the last. We’re continuing to improve our performance and infrastructure monitoring so we can anticipate potential problems more quickly in the future."[\[8\]](#cite-id-nhn4oia4tm)[\[9\]](#cite-id-hxh29o6zey9)

Gemini is a digital currency exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets.

Gemini 

Coincheck is a bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka. It operates exchanges between Bitcoin, ether, and fiat currencies in Japan and Bitcoin transactions and storage in some countries[\[1\]](#cite-id-gy6dufzu89)[\[2\]](#cite-id-jmuotr2wq9d)[\[3\]](#cite-id-mz0kxow2e8g).  
  
In April 2018, Coincheck was acquired by Monex Group for 3.6 billion yen.  
  
# History  
  
Coincheck started in August 2014 and is operated by Coincheck, inc. (previously ResuPress, inc) (founded in 2012). There were then more than 2,200 merchants using their bitcoin payment solution, just in Japan.  Coincheck is a member of JBA (Japan Blockchain Association)  and is actively helping to build the Japanese bitcoin community's usage standards with the government[\[4\]](#cite-id-sknt01r3taa)[\[5\]](#cite-id-vfynys1nrs).  
  
Coincheck partnered with SEKAI to support Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwan investors to buy Japanese real estate with bitcoin.  
  
# 2018 hacking incident  
  
In January 2018, Coincheck was hacked and approximately 500 million NEM tokens ($530 million) were stolen.   The currency was transferred through a total of nineteen accounts, one of which was found to have no connection with the hacker[\[6\]](#cite-id-c8t901dny07).  
  
The hack led two of Japan's crypto-currency trade groups to merge into a new self-regulatory organization. The Financial Services Agency took administrative action by ordering Coincheck to improve its security practices, but did not order the exchange to shut down out of a concern for the protection of its users.  Coincheck initially announced that it may not be able to compensate all users affected by the hack,  but then announced that it would repay all 260,000 users affected in Japanese yen using its own capital[\[8\]](#cite-id-5yk8pu7d8gs).

Coincheck is a bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka.

Coincheck

1inch.exchange (1INCH) is a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator that sources liquidity from various exchanges and is capable of splitting a single trade transaction across multiple DEXs[\[3\]](#cite-id-wluwbgbmrue)[\[4\]](#cite-id-1gx0nvkuxyr)[\[5\]](#cite-id-rzyut4myv3b)[\[1\]](#cite-id-v76ghe4yv9e).  
  
In December 2020, a month after the successful launch of 1inch v2, the 1inch team announced the closure of a $12 million funding round from institutional investors, including Pantera Capital, ParaFi Capital, and Nima Capital[\[21\]](#cite-id-a20khn0aqf)[\[22\]](#cite-id-g47es7xv25e)[\[23\]](#cite-id-15ogkl1y493).  
  
## Trivia  
  
* The 1INCH Foundation announced its first airdrop on December 25, 2020.  
* A second airdrop was announced on February 12, 2021.  
* 1inch was founded by Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov over the course of the ETHNewYork hackathon in 2019. The two had earlier met during a live stream of Kunz’s YouTube channel (CryptoManiacs), and began entering hackathons together, winning a prize at a hackathon in Singapore as well as two major awards from ETHGlobal.  
  
## 1INCH Airdrops  
  
The 1INCH Foundation announced the first airdrop on December 25th, 2020. The second one was announced on February 12, 2021[\[22\]](#cite-id-g47es7xv25e).  
  
The February airdrop provided another distribution under the same conditions as the December airdrop, to ensure that users who have not yet received their tokens could have a second chance of collecting them.  
  
The February airdrop also distributed 6 million 1INCH tokens to some Uniswap traders.  
  
# History  
  
![1inch_Team-710x458jpg.jpeg](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmUeaXZQe1MXBb2GHjNajJwFJWc4aX5cNzwGDGoXCuh8ja)*Left to right: 1inch CTO Anton Bukov, CEO Sergej Kunz and smart contract developer Mikhail Melnik.*  
  
The 1inch.exchange was founded by two Russian developers, Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov, who came together to audit smart contracts. Before establishing the DEX aggregator, the two developers partook in and won various bounties at hackathons for MakerDAO, Set Protocol,  
and Kyber Network. The scheme for 1inch was developed just weeks before the ETHNewYork convention, while the two co-founders were playing around with arbitrage bots. The project was then expanded during the hackathon event, creating the first iteration of the exchange: a minimum viable product (MVP) that aggregated Kyber Network, Bancor Network, and Uniswap liquidity.  
  
The name of the project, 1inch, was inspired by Bruce Lee’s legendary “1inch punch”, an epitome of efficiency in martial arts, and aims to symbolize the project's efficiency in the crypto industry.  
  
At the end of July 2020, 1inch reached $1billion in total trading volume[\[10\]](#cite-id-jcazbn47xxi).  
  
## Linch v2  
  
On November 5, 2020, the 1inch team unveiled 1inch’s version 2, having the following features:  
  
* **Pathfinder**: The main component of the release is Pathfinder, an API containing a new discovery and routing algorithm, which finds the best possible paths for a token swap in the shortest possible time. In addition to splitting a swap across multiple supported liquidity protocols, the new Pathfinder algorithm utilizes multiple ‘market depths’ within the same protocol.  
* **UI improvements**: Working on the new user interface, the team took into account suggestions from users and aimed to make the UI as intuitive and user-friendly, as possible. The team also added a table showing a user’s return value in USD. Previously, the platform showed how many coins a user gets and the size of the gas fee. Now, the user sees an entire value of their deal in USD.  
* **Speed**: compare quote response time was reduced from 6 sec to 0.4 sec; the page load time was reduced from 5 sec to 1 sec; API quote response time was reduced from 5 sec to 0.4 sec.  
* **Versatility**: 1inch v2 supports all major protocols: Uniswap V1, Uniswap V2, WETH, Balancer, Curve, Chai, SushiSwap, Kyber, Oasis, Mooniswap, Compound, Aave, yEarn, Bancor, PMM, Cream Swap, Swerve, BlackholeSwap, Value Liquid, DODO, Shell.  
* **Collateral tokens**: Thanks to Pathfinder, users are able to pack, unpack and migrate collateral tokens from lending protocols Aave and Compound, as part of the swap path.  
* **Partial and dynamic fill mechanism**: When a user makes a swap on 1inch using splits or various routes, 1inch makes sure that the swap is done at the rate the user was offered in the UI. If the rate on one of the protocols has changed, one part of the route can be easily cancelled. Instead of a failed transaction, the user’s unswapped coins return to their wallet. The dynamic component comes into play to allow parts of the swap to immediately switch to another protocol in the split or path. For instance, a swap is split between Uniswap, SushiSwap and Balancer. If the Uniswap swap has failed, the entire swap will switch to Sushiswap and Balancer. This allows the swap to still execute within the bounds of the user’s acceptable rate.  
* **Swap overhead optimizations**: Version 2 reduces aggregation overhead gas costs to almost zero for direct swaps, e.g. on Uniswap. Complex (multi-path) swaps are also optimized to minimize gas costs.  
* **Maximum return and lowest gas**: Among Pathfinder’s new features are also the ‘Maximum return’ and the ‘Lowest gas’ options. If a user chooses the former option, complex routes are used for the swap to make sure that the user gets the best rates. In the ‘Lowest gas’ option, swaps are done at market rates, without splits across different exchanges or complex routes, which enables the user to pay the lowest possible gas fee.  
  
1inch v2 smart contract passed 5 security audits: CertiK, Hacken, Scott Bigelow, Mix Bytes, and Chainsulting. The team is waiting to receive completed audits from OpenZeppelin, ConsenSys diligence, SlowMist, Haechi Labs, and Coinfabrik soon[\[11\]](#cite-id-4qpknfgnusy).  
  
# Integrations  
  
![0_xCB0czYU_GFN1qr7png.png](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmYFJQMuJe6bWPP2Xu2aoRyvoDVU6e9oWFP9EYgopcV8Fq) *1inch V2 launched in November 2020*  
  
In April 2020, 1inch added native integration with Curve’s sUSD exchange liquidity pool and Synthetix staking. Users who provide liquidity to the Curve pool, collect an annual percentage rate (APR). In addition, they receive Curve Pool Tokens, which can be staked in the Synthetix staking pool to collect an extra reward in Synthetix Network Tokens (SNX) given away by that pool. Each week, Synthetix distributes 64,000 SNX. The Curve sUSD pool became available on 1inch as a native tool, so users don’t have to go first to Curve’s website and then to that of Synthetix. All operations such as providing liquidity to Curve and staking sUSD on Synthetix can be done within 1inch.exchange unified interface.  
  
In May 2020, 1inch added support for Compound cUSDT token in protocol and dApp. The main idea behind cUSDT is that a user provides liquidity to the platform in Tether (USDT) and collects an interest income. With the cUSDT integration, it is possible to do swaps between any ERC20 tokens and cUSDT with the low price slippage.  
  
In May, 1inch integrated Uniswap V2 protocol. In the UI, users can see a list of all Uniswap V2 liquidity pools for selected tokens, including the pool’s capitalization and annual percentage rate (APR). Funds provided by users to any Uniswap pool are used for token swaps, and for each swap, a transaction fee is charged. The collected fees are distributed between all users who have provided liquidity to the pool in the form of interest, depending on their share of liquidity provided to the pool.  
  
In September 2020, 1inch partnered with TRON for JustSwap and Mooniswap integration. Under the partnership deal, 1inch fully integrated with JustSwap, TRON’s decentralized trading protocol for automated liquidity provision, and 1inch's AMM, Mooniswap, integrated into TRON’s blockchain. Liquidity providers on the TRON blockchain benefit from Mooniswap’s “virtual balances”, which slow down price changes, preventing arbitrage traders from earning up to 100% of the swap slippages and therefore increasing liquidity providers’ earnings. TRON also rewards liquidity providers on Mooniswap with TRON tokens as an additional incentive and reward.  
  
In September, 1inch announced a partnership with xBTC, Social Capital’s first token. As part of the partnership, xBTC was supposed to have an exclusive IMO (Initial Mooniswap Offering). Sergej Kunz, 1inch co-founder and CEO, said:  
  
> “IMOs on 1inch are more attractive for token issuers than other platforms because we provide protection from so-called front running. In turn, 1inch liquidity providers will benefit from the xBTC IMO as there will be substantial trade volumes at the initial stage and they’ll be able to collect significant interest.”  
  
In September, 1inch announced cooperation with cybersecurity firm Hacken. To add an extra layer of protection for users, 1 inch decided to collaborate with Hacken in several areas, including auditing code, APIs, and infrastructure.  
  
In November 2020, 1inch announced an integration with MyEtherWallet, a wallet and client interface for interaction with the Ethereum blockchain. 1inch swaps became available directly in MEW users’ wallets. Kosala Hemachandra, MyEtherWallet’s founder and CEO, said:  
  
> “1inch has built a DEX aggregator that embodies some of the best aspects of decentralization. Working with them to make their platform more accessible to MEW users was an easy decision for us. DeFi is still in an experimental stage, and companies like 1inch are paving the way for greater adoption.”  
  
# Chi Gastoken  
  
In June 2020, the 1inch team launched Chi, a gastoken that allows users to save on gas. The Chi Gastoken is an ERC20-standard token that is meant to be used on the 1inch.exchange to pay transaction costs. Chi is pegged to the Ethereum network’s gas price. When the gas price is low, the Chi price is also low, and the opposite. Just like gastoken, Chi is tokenized gas on the Ethereum network. The only difference is that Chi is used on 1inch and Curve, while gastoken is used across the entire Ethereum network[\[8\]](#cite-id-a50da6esteo)[\[9\]](#cite-id-8zdh0991wj).  
  
Minting Chi saves users 1% in comparison with minting gastoken (GST2). The burning of Chi saves users 10%, compared with GST2. In all other respects, Chi and GST2 are similar.  
  
To get a discount on a transaction, the gas fee at the time of burning has to be twice as much as what it was at the time of minting. E.g., a user mints Chi at 20 and burns Chi when the gas price is >40. A user can mint Chi directly on Etherscan or on 1inch.exchange. It is also possible to swap coins for Chi on 1inch through the Uniswap liquidity pool.  
  
# Mooniswap  
  
In August 2020, the 1inch team released their Automated Market Maker (AMM), Mooniswap, which redistributes earnings to liquidity pools, capitalizes on user slippages, and protects traders from front-running attacks. Mooniswap is capable of keeping most of the slippage revenue in the pool by maintaining virtual balances for different swap directions. When a swap happens, a market maker does not automatically apply the invariant algorithm and displays the new prices for upcoming trades. The AMM improves exchange rates for arbitrage traders slowly, over approximately a 5-minute time period. As a result, they are able to collect only a portion of slippage, while the rest remain in the pool shared among liquidity providers[\[11\]](#cite-id-4qpknfgnusy).  
  
### Swap and Referral Fees  
  
Mooniswap initially utilizes 0.3% Swap Fee which can be lowered to 0% in the future as a way to provide more competitive prices to the market.  
  
Mooniswap introduces Referral Fee to incentivize integrations with wallets and other services that increase trading volume and additional income for liquidity providers. Referral Fee is only charged when the referral wallet is specified in transaction arguments. Referral Fee is fixed and is equal to 5% of income earned by liquidity providers on the trade. So the initial 0.3% swap fee will be split into 0.015% going to referral and 0.285% going to liquidity providers. Additional profits generated by virtual balances are also split in the same ratio with 5% going to referral. Referral Fee does not introduce additional pressure on the price and rewards external actors who contribute to the protocol by providing trading volume.  
  
Apart from Swap Fee and Referral Fee, Mooniswap does not charge any additional protocol fees.  
  
### VWAP Oracles  
  
Mooniswap also introduced on-chain volume-weighted average price oracles. Price oracle data is stored as a cumulative sum of all trade inputs and outputs in both directions and it is updated after every transaction. By choosing different periods oracle users can configure the required level of price recency and manipulation resistance.  
  
# 1INCH Token  
  
In August 2020, the 1inch team announced the liquidity mining and 1INCH token release. The 1inch token is not for sale to users. It is a reward for using 1inch products. The tokenomics has not yet been disclosed[\[13\]](#cite-id-jzrkefxjlg).  
  
The 1INCH token is a utility token that serves several network needs:  
  
* to ensure a permissionless fashion of interaction with the protocols  
* to secure funds for further ecosystem development  
* to incentivize participation in potential governance of specific network functionalities  
* to stake for the network security.  
  
### Distribution  
  
A max vesting time of 1INCH distribution is four years. Over the course of this time, the distribution mechanism will be the following:  
  
* 30% for the security of the network and maintenance of its functionality with a 4-year vesting  
* 22.5% for the 1inch core team and future employees with a 4-year vesting  
* 21% for ecosystem growth (yield farming, community building, research, etc.) with a 4-year vesting  
* 19.5% to investors and shareholders with a 2,5-year vesting  
* 5% to advisors with a 4-year vesting  
* 2% to early Mooniswap liquidity providers with 1-year vesting.  
  
The initial (circulating) supply of 1INCH tokens (16%) will be allocated to the security of the network, maintenance of its functionality, marketing, and community development.  
  
### Liquidity Mining on Mooniswap  
  
1inch and Mooniswap protocols allow anybody to create next-generation AMM pools or add liquidity to existing ones. In August 2020, 1inch proposed and implemented the concept of security via the 1inch network token, 1INCH, which is distributed among liquidity providers in the amount of 2% from the total supply of 1INCH. 1inch network tokens that are allocated to early liquidity providers to Mooniswap pools will be distributed via vouchers retrospectively. A voucher entitles a user to receive a 1INCH token through vesting (a gradual unlock every second). Each voucher will be sent to a liquidity provider’s Ethereum address with the portion of 1INCH tokens attached to it. A liquidity provider can exchange their unlocked voucher tokens on 1inch.exchange in the tab “swap” to any crypto-asset. Each voucher is valid for one year and a half only and has to be exchanged before the expiration date.  
  
In November 2020, having received extensive feedback from the 1inch community, the team unveiled the second stage of the liquidity mining program, aimed at further incentivizing early providers of liquidity to four selected Mooniswap pools. Under stage 2, 1inch will distribute an additional 1% of the 1INCH token supply among users upon the issue of the token. Rewards will apply to liquidity providers to the following pools: ETH - WBTC, ETH - USDC, ETH - DAI, and ETH - USDT. The launch of the liquidity mining program’s second stage will have no impact on the first stage, launched back in August. Users are still entitled to awards under stage 1. Those awards have been active since Mooniswap’s launch on August 10, 2020, and are 2% of the 1INCH total token supply for providing liquidity to 40 pools.  
  
# Funding  
  
In August 2020, the 1inch team closed the first investment round, in which they raised $2.8 million from top institutional investors, including Binance Labs, which led the funding round, as well as Galaxy Digital, Greenfield One, Libertus Capital, Dragonfly Capital Partners, FTX, IOSG, LAUNCHub Ventures, Divergence Ventures, Loi Luu, the Founder of Kyber Network, and Illia Polosukhin, the Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol[\[20\]](#cite-id-bjfj92v8elq).  
  
In December 2020, the 1inch team announced a successful closure of a $12 million funding round from institutional investors, including Pantera Capital, ParaFi Capital, and Nima Capital. These funds will be used to further develop a variety of 1inch products, hire additional team members, fuel the project’s expansion into new markets, and amplify marketing activities. The full list of investors in this round includes Pantera Capital, ParaFi Capital, Nima Capital, LAUNCHub Ventures, Spark Capital, gumi Cryptos, Fabriс Ventures, Struck Capital, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Spartan Group, Blockchain Capital, as well as Josh Hannah, Kain Warwick, and Alexander Pack.  
  
### See also  
  
* List of DeFi terms

1inch.exchange (1INCH) is a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator that sources liquidity from various exchanges 

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