Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX) have received increased attention over the past couple of months as excitement builds over Coinbase's April 14 NASDAQ listing and the exchange's recent announcement that it pulled in $1.8 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2021.
Even as decentralized finance (DeFi) and popular decentralized exchanges (DEX) like Uniswap (UNI) and PancakeSwap (CAKE) attracted investors, high transaction costs and low liquidity on separate blockchain networks means that many crypto traders stick with CEXs for lower trading costs and the sense of security they offer.