Part III: Industry Trend Analysis

Preface

This part systematically contrasts the engineering and compliance architectures of centralized exchanges (CEXs) and decentralized exchanges (DEXs), covering core modules such as account custody, matching engines, risk management and liquidation, fiat on/off-ramps, and compliance & risk controls. It also extends to DEX-specific topics including AMM/order-book/intent-based market making, trade workflows, MEV, and smart-contract and oracle risks. We then provide a tabular, dimension-by-dimension comparison of the two models across custody, performance, transparency, product breadth, and regulatory compliance.

Building on this basis, we propose three pillars of industry evolution—trading, on/off-ramps, and cross-chain—and examine how L2 scaling, regulated stablecoins, and ZK-based cross-chain interoperability gradually erode certain traditional advantages of CEXs while nudging users toward a safer, more transparent, and composable DEX ecosystem. Our conclusion is that DEXs are becoming increasingly competitive across multiple dimensions and are likely to form a complementary landscape with CEXs—achieving partial substitution in specific areas rather than engaging in a purely zero-sum, adversarial game.