8 Best Decentralized Crypto Exchanges (DEXs) in 2025

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Ilija Rankovic

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Ilija Rankovic

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Ines S. Tavares

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Ines S. Tavares

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Ines is a Senior Web3 Writer at Cryptonews. She writes research-driven, value-packed guides and reviews covering cryptocurrencies, exchanges, and other Web3 topics. Ines is constantly on the lookout...

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January 28, 2025 12:52 EST

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Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have revolutionized how we trade cryptocurrencies. Instead of relying on order books and middlemen, DEXs use liquidity pools that let you swap tokens instantly and autonomously. You can start trading right away with little tedious account setup or identity verification required.

With dozens of DEXs competing for your attention, choosing the right platform can feel overwhelming. We’ve done the heavy lifting for you, meticulously evaluating 8 leading decentralized exchanges based on the metrics that matter most: competitive fee structures, token support, security measures, deep liquidity, and advanced DeFi capabilities. Our comprehensive rankings will help you find the DEX that best fits your trading requirements.

8 Best Decentralized Exchanges: Full Reviews

Our research identified the best decentralized exchanges (DEXs) based on security, liquidity, user experience, fees, and innovation. Below, we provide concise reviews of the 10 Best Decentralized Exchanges, highlighting their key features and strengths to help you choose the right platform for your trading needs.

1. Best Wallet – Overall Best Decentralized Exchange for 2025

Best Wallet is a multi-chain, non-custodial wallet and our overall choice as the best decentralized exchange. The Web3-powered wallet platform has a built-in decentralized exchange called Best DEX, which offers trading insights, low swap fees, and token analytics. With on-chain crypto storage, Best Wallet allows users to exchange their tokens easily while keeping complete control of their coins.

The DEX aggregator also connects investors to many liquidity pools, guaranteeing the best trading rates across different DEXs and contributing to competitive pricing within the network. Currently, the exchange supports the Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Polygon blockchains. As the platform grows, the developers plan to add support for all major active blockchains.

Regarding user security, Best Wallet stores private keys on the user’s device, offering two-factor authentication and biometric verification. The platform plans to introduce a debit card, bringing cryptocurrencies and everyday transactions even closer.

2. Exodus – Best for Competitive Rates

Exodus is a multi-chain, self-custody cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to manage, exchange, and stake many digital assets. It supports over 50 crypto networks, including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Fantom, Polygon, Solana, and Avalanche C-Chain.

This crypto platform also supports cryptocurrency exchanges for DEXs and centralized exchanges, giving users more convenience and options. Cross-chain swaps are also possible through partnerships with third-party API providers.

Regarding security, Exodus gives users a 12-word secret recovery phrase, guaranteeing that they have complete control over their keys and funds. The wallet is also compatible with hardware wallets, such as Trezor, in case investors want an extra layer of security.

3. OKX – Best for Cross-Chain Functionality

OKX is a great DEX that offers cross-cain functionality and supports over 70 blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Solana, Polygon, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. The platform makes token swaps across different blockchain standards simple. Its main focus is on liquidity, security, and user experience, providing a great platform for trading and DeFi yield solutions.

This DEX is built on advanced technology, using a bridge aggregator to connect liquidity pools from different exchanges. This structure gives users access to the best trading rates while reducing slippage.

Additionally, OKX supports DeFi yield generation by offering staking, farming, and liquidity provision options. However, one potential disadvantage is that trading fees are built into the exchange rates, requiring users to check costs in real-time.

4. AlphaX – Best for Crypto Derivatives Trading

AlphaX is a DEX that offers a great platform for derivatives trading. It supports more than 200 trading pairs, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, DeFi, and meme coins. This platform allows users to trade perpetual futures contracts with leverage up to 125x, making it possible to go for long and short positions.

To guarantee that the platform is safe, AlphaX uses a decentralized, self-custody wallet system. All transactions are done on-chain and can be verified through smart contracts. AlphaX also operates without a Know Your Customer (KYC) process, keeping the platform anonymous and private.

The platform also offers advanced trading tools, including market, limit, and trigger orders, working together with a TradingView integration for charting and technical analysis. The fees stay between 0.02% for maker fees and 0.05% for taker fees.

5. Changelly – Best for Trading Stablecoins

Changelly is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers centralized and decentralized services. Launched in 2015, it provides instant crypto-to-crypto and fiat-to-crypto exchanges with over 500 currencies and more than 100,000 trading pairs. Its DEX aggregator, DeFi Swap, allows users to exchange tokens across different blockchain networks in a non-custodial manner.

DeFi Swap connects with different exchanges to offer good swap rates with low fees. Users can connect their favorite wallets, including MetaMesk and the ones supported by WalletConnect, and start swapping tokens without the need for account creation.

Regarding security, Changelly uses a non-custodial platform, so it doesn’t hold any user’s funds, reducing counterparty risk. Also, the platform has reliable partnrships with Trezor and Ledger, making it possible for users to swap directly from their hardware wallets, improving security.

6. PancakeSwap – Best for Trading BNB-Based Tokens

PancakeSwap is a DEX built on the BNB Smart Chain, known for its high liquidity, low fees, and great support for BEP-20 tokens. This platform uses an Automated Market Maker (AMM) model, allowing users to trade tokens directly from their wallets by connecting them to liquidity pools.

PancakeSwap also counts on a secure infrastructure that goes through regular audits from reliable firms like Certik. It receives support for yield farming and staking through Syrup Pools, allowing investors to earn passive income by offering liquidity or staking $CAKE, the DEX’s native token. The platform just added cross-chain trading, enabling swaps between BNB Snart Chain tokens and those on different networks, like Ethereum or Polygon.

Through its AMM model, PancakeSwap offers reduced slippage and good prices, making perpetual trading possible with leverage for more experienced investors. With a flexible structure that goes from 0.01% to 1%, every investor will find a way where this platform will match their needs.

7. dYdX – Best for High Leverage Trading

dYdX is a DEX specializing in cryptocurrency derivatives trading. It enables users to trade contracts tied to currency prices without holding the assets directly. The platform has a leverage rate of up to 20x, making it the best choice for traders who want to be exposed to more popular tokens, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, and Litecoin.

dYdX offers advanced tools for trading, adding an extra layer of precision and flexibility. It provides charting tools, different technical indicators, and many order types, including limit, stop-loss, and take-profit orders. The platform can be accessed through web browsers, mobile platforms, and a native app.

This DEX’s fee structure starts at 0.05% per trade, but reductions are possible when conducting high-volume trades. For example, if you invest more than $1 million within 30 days, you can have fees as low as 0.04%. To maintain security, dYdX facilitates transactions using smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. It also uses StarkWare’s layer-2 scaling technology to guarantee high transaction speed and lower fees than traditional Ethereum-based exchanges.

8. Uniswap – Best for Trading ERC-20 Tokens

Uniswap is a well-known DEX built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is recognized for its strong support of ERC-20 tokens, including Aave, DAI, USD Coin, Tether, and Wrapped Bitcoin. Due to its decentralized structure, this is a popular choice for new token launches and ICO campaigns.

This is the primary choice in the DeFi space due to its technological features and inclusive ecosystem. Additionally to the support of thousands of ERC-20 tokens, you can also make cross-chain trading on networks such as Binance Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Base, and Celo on this platform.

Another key feature is Uniswap’s yield-generating opportunities. By staking tokens or providing liquidity, investors can earn great APYs. The platform also counts on a governance model fueled by the $UNI tokens, allowing holders to propose and vote on the network’s decisions. The trading fees are set at 0.03% per transaction, making the platform a great provider of ample liquidity, competitive prices, and low slippage.

Methodology: How We Rated the Best Decentralized Crypto Exchanges (DEXs)

To find the best decentralized crypto exchanges, our team dedicated more than 300 hours to thorough research. We evaluated factors such as security, liquidity, user experience, fees, and technology. Here’s how we conducted the research and how much each factor weighed in the exchange’s final review.

1. Security and Trustworthiness (30%)

Security is the most important piece of any DEX, as users depend on its smart contracts and infrastructure to keep their investments safe. Regarding security, we evaluated the following characteristics:

• Smart Contract Audits: We checked if reliable third-party companies have audited DEX’s smart contracts.
• Incident History: We studied past security breaches or vulnerabilities and how the team solved them.
• Decentralization Level: We evaluated the degree of decentralization, as a more decentralized platform decreases single failure points.
• Insurance Funds: We checked if the DEX has any insurance mechanism to safeguard its users in case of any hacks.

2. Liquidity and Volume (25%)

Liquidity is an important characteristic of good trading experience and keeping the DEX’s overall competitiveness. Regarding it, we evaluated:

• Total Value Locked (TVL): We examined the number of assets locked in the DEX’s smart contracts. This will help us measure its trust and activity.
• Trading Volume: We kept a record of its daily and monthly trading volume to understand its popularity and efficiency.
• Depth of Liquidity: We evaluated the availability of liquidity in several trading pairs to guarantee minimal slippage.

3. User Experience (15%)

A user-friendly interface helps keep the already-existing user base while attracting new ones to the platform. It can also help cater to the needs of new and more experienced investors. We analyzed:

• Interface Design and Usability: We tested all the pages on the platform to measure intuitiveness and ease of navigation.
• Transaction Speed: We checked how fast the transactions were, including order execution and settlement times.
• Customization and Tools: We analyzed the advanced trading tools, charting options, and customization features.

4. Fees and Costs (15%)

Competitive fees are a part of why a DEX may be appealing. In this case, we analyzed:

• Fee Structure: We compared the platform’s fees with those of other DEXs to determine how competitive they are.
• Gas Efficiency: We considered whether the DEX operates on a gas-efficient blockchain or uses strategies like batch processing to reduce costs.
• Hidden Costs: We searched for additional or hidden fees that might surprise investors.

5. Innovation and Features (15%)

New and technological features can make a DEX stand out among similar platforms, so we assessed:

• Advanced Trading Options: We analyzed whether the platform offers features such as perpetual, options, or margin trading.
• Unique Features: We evaluated whether the DEX offers any offerings that are different from those of other platforms, like multi-chain swaps, staking, or yield farming.
• Cross-Chain Capabilities: We analyzed if the DEX can facilitate cross-chain trading and the safety and efficiency of these mechanisms.

By scoring each criterion when researching each DEX, we could assign an overall rating to each platform. This broader approach allowed us to identify the best decentralized crypto exchanges based on their overall strength, reliability, and potential to meet user needs.

How to Trade Cryptocurrency Using a DEX: 3 Steps

Trading on a decentralized exchange for the first time can be intimidating. Read on, we explain how to place a decentralized cryptocurrency trade in three simple steps.

Step 1: Connect Your Wallet

One of the best things about decentralized exchanges is you don’t need to open an account. Nor do you need to supply personal information, contact details, or ID verification documents. Instead, visit your preferred exchange and connect a wallet.

The best crypto wallets for decentralized trading are Trust Wallet and MetaMask. That said, many other options exist. You’ll likely need to confirm the connection request from within your wallet. This ensures it’s really you making the request.

Step 2: Select a Trading Pair and Amount

Now that your wallet is connected, you can choose which cryptocurrencies to trade. First, you’ll need to select the cryptocurrency that you want to swap. This should be a cryptocurrency that’s currently in your wallet. Second, choose the cryptocurrency that you want to receive. You’ll also need to type in the trade amount.

This should be stated in the number of tokens. The equivalent number of tokens will then be displayed in real-time. Importantly, you might need to increase the slippage percentage. This is the maximum disparity between the current and execution prices of the cryptocurrencies you want to trade.

For example, suppose you set the slippage to 3%. This means the exchange will only execute the trade if the price doesn’t deviate by more than 3%.

Step 3: Place Your Trade

You can now place your trade. The token swap should go through within seconds. Behind the scenes, a smart contract will deduct tokens from your wallet and deposit them into the liquidity pool.

The smart contact will then deposit the new cryptocurrency tokens into your wallet. If you’ve finished trading, disconnect your wallet from the decentralized exchange.

If the swap fails, this is often because of slippage, which we discussed above.

What Are The Advantages of Using a DEX?

This section covers some of the key advantages of decentralized exchanges. This includes having full control of your cryptocurrencies, increased security, global accessibility, and the ability to trade anonymously.

Full User Control and Security

Decentralized exchanges ensure you always keep full control of your cryptocurrencies. This is because you won’t be required to make a deposit, let alone keep your cryptocurrencies on an exchange. Instead, you’ll be buying and selling cryptocurrencies via smart contracts.

All you need to do is connect a wallet and choose which cryptocurrencies to trade. The smart contract will then complete the exchange without ever touching your funds.

Now compare this to a traditional cryptocurrency exchange. You’d need to deposit funds into the exchange’s wallet, which you don’t have the private keys for. This means you need to trust that your cryptocurrencies are safe. Just remember, many cryptocurrency exchanges have been hacked, resulting in billions of dollars in stolen funds.

Global Accessibility

Decentralized exchanges are accessible globally. This means that, unlike centralized exchanges, there are no country-specific restrictions. Anyone can log onto a decentralized exchange, connect a wallet, and swap tokens.

No KYC Requirements

Most tier-one cryptocurrency exchanges have implemented KYC processes. This means you’d need to provide personal information and contact details when registering. KYC also involves unloading ID verification documents, such as a passport or driver’s license. This ensures that centralized exchanges comply with global money laundering laws.

In contrast, decentralized exchanges do not implement KYC checks. Users aren’t required to open an account or provide any personal data. The decentralized trading process is completely anonymous.

However, there is one exception to this rule. Some decentralized exchanges have partnered with ‘fiat gateways’. This enables their customers to buy cryptocurrencies with a debit/credit card. The fiat gateway will be required to KYC the buyer. Therefore, those wanting to trade anonymously should avoid fiat payments and stick to swap-only sites.

What Are The Risks of Using a DEX?

We also identified some risks when researching decentralized exchanges. This includes a more complicated trading process, transaction delays, limited liquidity, and smart contract risks.

Complexity and Transaction Delays

Decentralized exchanges can be more complex to use when compared to traditional cryptocurrency exchanges. You’ll need to have at least a basic understanding of some key cryptocurrency principles, such as liquidity levels, trading volumes, market prices, and potential slippage risks. Any mistakes can result in a hugely unfavorable price.

In contrast, the best cryptocurrency exchanges offer a smooth and hassle-free investment process. It’s normally just a case of choosing which cryptocurrency to buy and entering your debit/credit card details.

Additionally, we found that transactions are often delayed when using a decentralized exchange. This is because platforms rely on smart contracts and the blockchain network. If the network is in high demand, delays can occur. Centralized exchanges execute trades internally via order books, making transactions almost instant.

Limited Liquidity and Trading Volume

Decentralized exchanges have a small fraction of liquidity when compared to traditional exchanges like Binance.

When you also factor in Coinbase, Bybit, OKX, KuCoin, Kraken, Gate.io, and other leading platforms, you’ll see that decentralized trading volumes are a drop in the ocean. This results in weakened liquidity levels, meaning inefficient trading conditions. Traders might need to settle for an unfavorable price to buy or sell.

For example, in 2024, DEXs had an important increase in trading activity, with a 15.7% quarter-on-quarter rise in spot trading volume, reaching $370.7 billion in Q2. However, this value is still significantly lower than those of CEX. For comparison, in December 2024, Binance alone reported a spot trading volume of $1 trillion, 34.7% of the market share among CEXs.

Smart Contract Risks

In general, decentralized exchanges are considered safer than centralized platforms. However, you also need to consider smart contract risks. After all, smart contracts are never 100% secure. Should a hacker find a vulnerability, this could result in a loss of funds.

In December 2024, the DEX Feed Every Gorilla (FEG) was hacked for $1.3 million because of a breach in its SmartBridge contract. The invasion created bridge messages from other blockchains, which the system failed to validate correctly. This made unauthorized cross-chain withdrawals possible, including in networks like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Base. This is why you should only use a decentralized exchange if its smart contract has been audited. This should be a thorough and transparent audit from a reputable third party.

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