What if the biggest trading decision isn’t spot vs perp, or ETH vs BTC it’s whether you’re willing to hand your keys to a company in the first place?
Answer this honestly:
If an exchange vanished tomorrow, could you still access your assets?
Most traders talk about “risk management,” but skip the most basic layer of all — custody.
Here’s the real split: two models, two philosophies, two different definitions of control.
CEX
A company operates the order book and matches trades for you.
Your funds sit under their custody.
They hold the assets, process withdrawals, freeze accounts if needed, and serve as the trusted intermediary.
DEX
Smart contracts automate execution without a central authority.
Your assets remain in your wallet the entire time.
Trades move directly from user wallets into the contract, governed by code instead of a company.
One path says
let a platform manage risk, access, operations, and custody.
The other path says
no intermediaries, no gatekeepers, no counterparty holding your coins.
So here’s the question for traders learning perps:
Do you prioritize convenience or sovereignty?
Because the real difference between a centralized exchange and a decentralized exchange isn’t user interface, liquidity, or signup time.
It’s whether you are outsourcing control - or taking it back.
@SunX_DEX @Justin Sun孙宇晨 #TRONEcoStar
