While revolutionary in their own right, DEXs have also arisen over the last few years to change everything about trading digital assets. Unlike the centralized human-run exchanges, DEX runs on a blockchain network so that transactions can take place directly between peers without need for an authoritative third party.

The greatest benefit of the DEX may be eliminating a single point of failure. Traditional exchanges, progenitors of such risks alone, are themselves also subject to hacking and downtime. But unlike DEX, which uses a decentralized network of nodes with security increased and risk of attack reduced.

DEX also believes in privacy and autonomy. As users hold the private keys, only they have ownership and access to their funds. These changes in direction are very much the spirit of blockchain--decentralization.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has been another shot in the arm for DEX. Users can here trade many kinds of tokens from their wallets. These can also provide chances for liquidity supply and farm yield. With its permissionless, open finance architecture, DEX makes financial inclusion possible. It offers financial services to anyone, anywhere.

However, problems of liquidity and the user experience remain to be solved. So innovations in DEX continue apace. Improving technology and growing adoption have brought the DEX of today's crypto universe to its vanguard in frontier land. What our decentralized financial systems may one day look like is just around that dark, impenetrable corner.