Steemit Crypto Academy Contest| S1W2 - Reviewing Centralized Exchanges by @nwabueze
Discuss briefly centralized exchange and its benefits to crypto users
CENTRALIZED EXCHANGES
A centralized exchange is a system that allows its users to be able to buy, sell and send digital assets through a blockchain. A centralized exchange is a very common system, especially for those who want to enjoy a stress-free transaction with other users of an exchange. What happens is that the individual users of a centralized exchange are at the mercy of the machinery in charge of the exchange which can be an uncomfortable situation for some people but it really works efficiently.
In a centralized exchange system, there is an order book. An order book is a collection of users who are actively on the market with the intention of either buying or selling crypto assets. What the order book basically does is to find buy and sell orders that would satisfy the market pressure at the time and eventually match them together. For example, if I want to sell 1 BTC and some other person wants to buy 1 BTC, what the system does is match our orders together and execute- the buyer gets their BTC and the seller gets their fiat currency. The exchange serves as a middle man in the transaction, which makes sure that assets are not lost, and for that reason, they charge a small percentage of the asset as a transaction fee.
The work the exchange does is very critical because they are there to maintain a balance between blockchain users. Although some people are not huge fans of centralized exchanges, they are still more desirable to other people(the majority).
There is this relaxing feeling that comes with using centralized exchanges because of the security of assets. It might be expensive, but you are sure that you can never lose your assets. For example, if you happen to misplace your wallet keys in a centralized exchange, it is possible for a reset password to be done for you to change your keys. In decentralized exchanges, unfortunately, it is impossible for a user to recover their key if for any reason it gets missing or forgotten.
Centralized exchanges make use of applications that have really nice user compatibility and for that reason, it is easier to understand for users, the users can be either young or old. The main thing it markets is inclusivity for all so that no one feels left out by the system or exchange.
What do you look out for when choosing an exchange to trade your crypto assets?
Some of the things I look out for when choosing an exchange to trade my crypto assets are:
a) How long the exchange has been in existence to help me ascertain how comfortable I will be with my assets in their possession.
b) I look out for their transaction charges and the timeliness of their transactions.
c) I look out for how responsive the exchange can be in the event that I lose my keys and require assistance getting new ones.
d) I look out for their privacy policies to be sure that personal details about me won’t be tampered with in the future.
Review your favorite centralized exchange and explain its unique features.
My favorite exchange is binance and I have a host of reasons for that. Binance is a technology company that was started in 2017 for the sole purpose of creating an enabling environment for trading of assets to occur. Before the existence of binance, crypto currency was for only the top people if technology because it operations were considered to be too complicated by the average person. The creator of binance had the interest of people at heart and for that reason it was created with a nice user interface that promotes learning for all users.
Something I like particularly about binance is that their customer support team is readily available to help people whenever they encounter difficulty navigating the platform. Binance is always open to taking suggestions by their users to help make the platform a more desirable option for the public.
Binance has most of the coins people would ever need. They provide users with every detail relating to the coin to help speed up decision making. There are options to open charts, history and also provision for technical analysis.
Binance has a platform known as binance earn. On this platform, people actually have option to save and earn interest for the future. Some people like trading while some other people like saving for interst- binance has got everyone covered.
Binance also has very sophisticated security features that allow only the owner access to funds in an account. It has provision for a two-factor authentication system, it has provision for biometric security system and it is also linked to your email and mobile number for maximum security for all users.
Is there anything about your favorite exchange you will like to be changed? Discuss.
In the binance option for p2p trading it often gets annoying when you send a merchant crypto and they take a long period of time to respond. For example, people sell assets for different reasons and that should be respected. Imagine you have majority of your holdings on binance and for some reason you want to take it out for a rare physical investment and a merchant just takes your time for granted. It is annoying. I once had an experience with a merchant where I transferred crypto and was waiting for my fiat for over an hour all to no avail. It even got to the extent where I had to make an appeal. It happened that the merchant was sleeping while his profile was showing that he was active. I would really like binance to look into the timeliness of p2p transactions.
What shortcomings do you see on centralized exchanges and how do you think user funds can be protected since we don’t have access to our wallet private keys?
Centralized exchanges are good but a couple of people have had terrible experience with some centralized exchanges. I think the main driving for of the centralized exchange is trust. The users operate totally at the mercy of the exchange and as such I belive there should be a very high level of trustworthiness. Exchanges should be properly investigated before having anything to do with them.
Some times exchanges are hacked and it can be quit unavoidable. The best option should be exchange insurance so that in the even an exchange is hacked, there will be bailout money for the exchange and their customers.
Conclusion
As a person my first experience with crypto was with a centralized exchange and since then I have not had any bad experience with them. They may be expensive but trust me they are really good for most people. A lot of people cannot bear the stress and complexity of a centralized exchange. I really hope I have been able to contribute to the community in my own little way. Thank you all for reading.
This is also one of the things I love so much about binnace, the customer care response is rapid and very effective.
I have issues with wrong deposits abs they were all resolved within 24 hours.
I give them a hug up ⬆️
They are a really good company with the interest of their users at heart.
Binance is my favorite exchange too, you post have a very detailed description of it even some that I didn't know about. Thanks for the giving me the knowledge
You are welcome. Thank you for finding the post interesting.
Thank you for joining this contest.
Thank you professor for your review.
Good post
Thanks