Binance has been one of the leading centralized exchanges in the world for several years. According to CoinGecko data, it is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. However, as with other centralized exchanges, Binance has its own limitations, such as bankruptcy risks, strict regulations, and custody of assets.
As the world of cryptocurrency continues to evolve, the importance of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) has become increasingly apparent. Unlike centralized exchanges, DEXs allow the trading of cryptocurrencies directly without the need for an intermediary. They provide a secure and more transparent way to trade in the cryptocurrency market.
Furthermore, decentralized exchanges offer a wide array of advantages, including reduced fees, enhanced privacy, increased control over funds, and so on. Whether you are a seasoned trader or a beginner, considering these Binance alternatives can help diversify your trading strategy and improve your decision-making process.
In this article, we’ll be exploring the world of decentralized finance, highlighting top decentralized exchanges in the market.
1. GMX
With a total value locked (TVL) of over $600 million, GMX is one of the biggest protocols in the decentralized finance market.
It is a decentralized spot and perpetual exchange built on two chains; namely Arbitrum and Avalanche. GMX aims to enhance users’ trading experience by allowing low fees (0.1% flat fee) and zero-price impact trades.
GMX enables users to trade cryptocurrencies, such as BTC, ETH, and other prominent coins, on-chain and directly from their wallets. Unlike centralized exchanges – like Binance, users are allowed to keep the custody of their assets via a crypto wallets.
All transactions are executed through GMX’s native multi-asset pool, GLP, which also offers rewards to liquidity providers.
Furthermore, GMX allows traders to open leveraged positions via a simple interface, which is similar to most trading platforms. According to the exchange’s website, GMX currently has a total trading volume of over $138 billion. The platform has two tokens, including GMX (the utility and governance token) and GLP (the liquidity provider token).
Also Read: All You Need To Know About GMX – A Deep Dive Into The Next Crypto Derivatives Leader
2. dYdX
Next up on our list of top decentralized trading platforms is dYdX. It is a decentralized exchange based on the Ethereum Layer-2 system StarkWare.
dYdX utilizes ZK-Rollups (zero-knowledge rollups) in order to enhance the protocol’s processing speed and lower transaction costs.
DYdX allows users to trade perpetuals, a type of financial instrument that derives its value from an underlying asset. Perpetual give traders the opportunity to speculate on the future value of an asset. Unlike most DEXes that operate on an automated market maker (AMM), dYdX facilitates trading through a traditional orderbook and matching model.
In spite of this, dYdX is still one of the most popular decentralized exchanges in the market, with a TVL of roughly $350 million. Traders need a DeFi wallet, like MetaMask or Coinbase, or even a cold wallet such as Ledger or Trezor. In addition, you will be needing some Ether tokens to pay the gas fees for transactions.
Also Read: How v4 Takes dYdX Closer To Total Decentralization and Community Ownership
3. MUX Protocol
MUX Protocol is a decentralized exchange native to four different chains, including Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Optimism, Avalanche, and Fantom. It is a platform that allows users to trade cryptocurrency with zero price impact and directly from their Web3 wallet. MUX Protocol provides an interface with 7 different crypto markets, like ETH, BTC, AVAX, BNB, and so on.
MUX Protocol can aggregate liquidity from third-party protocols to provide a more consistent and well-priced trading experience. The decentralized platform offers up to 100x leverage to trade various crypto assets. MUX Protocol charges a fixed trading fee of 0.1%.
With a TVL of $54.18 million, MUX Protocol is another top platform in the decentralized finance space. You can earn rewards by providing liquidity to the protocol. MUX Protocol uses 4 different tokens, including MCB (utility token), MUX (reward token), veMUX (governance token), and MUXLP (liquidity provider token).
4. Gains Network
With a total value of $52.6 million locked on two chains (Arbitrum and Polygon), Gains Network is another top protocol in the DeFi market. It is the protocol behind gTrade, a decentralized leveraged trading platform. Besides prominent cryptocurrencies, the platform also enables the trading of major currency pairs.
The gTrade platform offers a lot of leverage on a wide array of assets. It provides 150x leverage on crypto assets and up to 1000x on currency pairs. gTrade DEX operates a synthetic asset system, which utilizes stablecoin DAI and Gains Network’s native token, GNS.
The trading platform offers a good range of trading features, such as liquidations or limit orders.
5. ApolloX Finance
ApolloX Finance is another top decentralized trading protocol based on three chains; namely BSC, Ethereum, and Arbitrum. This derivatives DEX is built on an “off-chain transaction matching + on-chain fund settlement and custody” model. ApolloX offers a seamless trading experience through high transaction performance, fast response speeds, and top user safety.
To trade on ApolloX, all you need to do is simply connect your wallet. As with other DEX, traders are allowed to retain custody of their funds. Meanwhile, the protocol offers a solution in ApolloX DEX Engine for businesses looking to launch their own derivatives decentralized exchange.
ApolloX is one of the fastest-growing DEX in the market today, with a total value of $41.25 million locked on its protocol.
6. ApeX by Bybit
ApeX is a permissionless trading platform designed for trades in the decentralized derivatives market. The protocol is built on the Ethereum and Arbitrum chain.
ApeX was created in 2022 by Bybit, a popular centralized exchange with over 4 million users.
On ApeX, traders can buy and sell more than a dozen crypto assets at low fees (maker/taker fee of 0.02/0.05%, respectively). The platform offers up to 15x or 30x leverage for derivatives trading, depending on the asset. With the Trade-to-Earn program, users can earn BANA tokens (the ApeX’s reward token) on every transaction.
Besides BANA, ApeX is also supported by the APEX token. APEX is the protocol’s governance token, which affords users control over protocol parameters and allows them to participate in staking.
Also Read: Charmyn Of Bybit On The Current Crypto Market, Gaming & The Future Of Blockchains
7. Perpetual Protocol
Rounding up this list of top decentralized trading platforms is Perpetual Protocol. It is an open-source project built in 2019 on the xDAI chain, with a TVL of nearly $19 million. As with other DEXs, Perpetual Protocol enables users to trade directly from their wallets, preferably MetaMask.
Perpetual Protocol’s decentralized perpetual contracts operate on virtual automated market makers. These virtual AMM are built such that they are fully collateralized and market neutral. That said, the Perpetual trading platform offers a leverage of up to 10x.
Perpetual Protocol supports the on-chain trading of a wide range of tokens, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Maker, and so on. It is worth noting that the platform allows users to utilize USDC when trading perpetual contracts.
Conclusion
As earlier stated, decentralized exchanges are bound to play a bigger role in the crypto space, especially with the exponential rise in mainstream adoption.
With their unique, appealing features such as anonymity, low fees, privacy, and multiple network support, these projects offer users a different and more exhilarating experience in comparison to centralized exchanges like Binance.
However, it must be stated that DEXs are not risk-free. The lack of a regulatory framework makes the platforms susceptible to scams and heists. Therefore, users are advised to conduct proper research and take all necessary precautions before engaging with any protocol.
Also Read: 5 Binance Alternatives For Singaporeans (2023)
[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your research before investing.]
Featured Image Credit: ChainDebrief
Author: Opeyemi Sule
