What is DEX (Decentralized Exchange)?

A decentralized exchange, or DEX, lets you swap tokens straight from your wallet using smart contracts, without a central operator holding your funds. Many DEXs use liquidity pools and automated pricing instead of a traditional order book, so trades execute against a pool of tokens supplied by other users.

This matters because DEXs are central to DeFi and to many reward campaigns, and they keep you in self-custody throughout, since you never surrender your keys to trade.

Example: you connect your wallet to a DEX, approve the token you want to sell, and swap it for another token in one on-chain transaction, with the price set by the pool.

Safety note: trading on a DEX requires a token approval, which drainers imitate, so only connect to the genuine DEX via a bookmarked link. Watch for fake tokens with copied names, high slippage on thin pools, and honeypot tokens you can buy but never sell. Verify contract addresses before swapping anything unfamiliar. Related terms include DeFi, liquidity pool, slippage, and token approval.