A decentralised exchange (or DEX) is a cryptocurrency exchange that operates without a central authority. The primary characteristic of a DEX is it being non-custodial i.e. it does not hold users funds on a central server but instead uses a system of smart contracts to settle exchanges between users in a transparent and permissionless fashion.
Popular DEX’s include UniSwap (Ethereum network), SushiSwap (cross-chain), PancakeSwap (Binance Smart Chain), and QuickSwap (Polygon).
