Thank you @yousafharoonkhan for this amazing lesson, it was really impactful and I gained yet an additional knowledge.

What are decentralised and centralised exchanges

Source
Decentralized Exchange (DEX) is a kind of cryptocurrency exchange that happens directly between two users’ wallets, in other words, it allows a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency transaction to occur without a middleman or intermediary. These transactions happen online and are usually very secure, here the intermediary (such as stockbrokers, banks etc.) which could have been responsible for the security and entire transaction is now replaced with a ledger or blockchain.
There is little or no risk of hacking of exchanges because users do not transfer their assets to the exchange and this in turn helps reduce price manipulation. There is so much transparency because in many DEX, every order including cancellations and alterations are written on the blockchain.

Centralized exchange (CEX) is a kind of exchange that allows the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies either for fiat currencies such as US Dollar or digital currencies such as BTC. They are intermediaries in transactions and ensure the funds are secure and the transactions go smoothly. There is a risk of being hacked because exchanges are being made on the platform although you must be verified before you can begin trading on a CEX.

Differences between Decentralised exchange and centralised exchange.

1. Anonymity:
   In decentralised exchange, there are little or no know your customer (KYC) requirements and they really do not hold personal data of users.

2. Transaction speed
   There is fast transaction speed in CEX because the algorithm has the ability to process a thousands orders in one second unlike the DEX which is relatively slow because the miners need to validate the transactions.

3. Rigidity
   DEX is not as user-friendly as CEX, If you ever forget your password or seed phrase, yours funds cannot be retrieved and hence, gone for good while in CEX, the password may be restored.

4. Liquidity
   There is small liquidity and the trading volumes are relatively low in decentralised exchange while there is high liquidity and trading volumes is great in centralised exchange.

5. Counterparty risk
   DEX is secure since users do not transfer their assets to the exchange, the funds won’t be put at risk even if the system is hacked while in CEX, funds may be lost because the assets are transferred and exchanged on the platform.

6. Ease of usage
   Decentralised exchanges is complex and can be very confusing especislly for beginners, there are no limit orders and stop losses for traders while Centralised exchange is quite easy to understand for beginners.

7. Example
   An example of decentralised exchange is Bitsquare while an example of a centralised exchange is Binance.

My best centralised exchanges in 2021

My best centralised exchanges in 2021 are Binance and Roqqu

Binance: Binance exchange founded in 2017 tops my list as the best exchange and this is because there is a large variety of cryptocurrencies and different trading pairs. it is one of the cheapest platforms to use, the fees are relatively low as it charges 0.1% for both the maker and taker side and when using binance's native coin which is BNB, the fees are lowered by 25%. one of the good things is that you can buy cryptocurrencies with either your credit or debit card. there is also an array of transaction types to select from either trading or staking or investing. it is also user-friendly and I do most of my transactions here.

Screenshot of my verified account

screenshot of my transaction in the last 24hours

Roqqu
Roqqu is my second best centralised exchange because of its simplicity. its verification process is really straightforward and coins can be purchased by funding your wallet from your credit card. My best reason for using it is that i can send my steem from my steemit wallet using roqqulovesteem as a pass. It helps me sell my cryptocurrencies fast and the exchange rates are really great.

Screenshot of transactions in my roqqu wallet

Practical steps on how to install Metamask

• Visit metamask.io
• Click on download
• Create a wallet
• Agree to the terms and conditions
• Create password

Download MetaMask from your browser and install it.

Click on add to chrome

A notification will pop up and then cline on add extension

Thereafter you get started

Since I do not have a wallet in MetaMask, I will create a wallet

Read the terms and condition and then click on I agree

Create a password. note that it must be a strong alphanumeric password with minimum of 8 characters.

Enter your chosen password in the confirm password box and then create

Click in the box to reveal your secret backup phrase.

Ensure to copy your secret password and keep it safe

Confirm your secret backup phrase by entering all the words.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed and set up your Metamask.

Practical steps on how to use Uniswap exchange

Since you already have a metamask wallet, you can use any liquidity source such as Uniswap, so you can start swapping.

I am swapping from Ethereum to UMA and then review swap

1 ETH equals 106.87332UMA, I am ok with the exchange so I click on swap

Conclusion

Decentralised and centralised exchanges are a competing duel without a winner, one cannot say that this is better than that because they both have their pros and cons but must research properly to know the best exchange to use. Furthermore, Binance stands out to be the best cryptocurrency exchange for me because of its versatility.