I just tried out ethfinex. Just to play with it and see how the 0x protocol works in action.
What I did
I bought a tiny amount of MKR, just to see how it works. In order to do this there were a few steps:
- I had to connect a metamask wallet with the dex, I could have used others but chose that one.
- I then had to lock a few tokens (in order to trade with them) locking them up allows the exchange to effectively match the tokens while I still control them (I still own them with my keys)
- Also there are a few other things you have to unlock via ethereum transactions. Generally there are just a ton of transactions you have to send and confirm.
Here are a few examples:
the bad news
- Ethereum is still a pain to deal with when used to something like steem, with their slow transactions that need gas and cost money.
- This may be a deterrent for some users and generally kills usability.
- It takes a long time for things to actually happen, as transactions need to get confirmed. This works in minutes now though, vs I remember times when interaction with such contracts took days, because of transaction delays.
- locking up tokens and approving transactions are generally annoying, but many short cuts have improved the processes
The good stuff
Overall the dex works amazingly well. I was able to lock up some ethereum and buy some MKR within a 15 min window. Had I signed up at a new exchange this would not have been faster, probably even slower, since I would have had to send funds etc.
The UI is rock solid, better than anything I have seen on wall street and as good as anything we are used to from the crypto world.
Creating and placing order, the order book, tradingview charts, transaction history to download and all that jazz. Its all there and super pretty.
And full control over your assets, no signup and the same experience for a tiny or huge order. There is no withdrawal restriction to $2000 or similar bull shit one has to deal with.
Your control.
Man after dealing with centralized exchanges there is nothing sweeter than that. Coinbase,Bitmex, Kraken they all are having issues. Major ones. Flash Crashes, freezing of the exchange, cancelling orders. Closing positions after 30 days for compliance reasons, not being able to trade certain currency pair or assets.... I have personally experienced all of them on these exchanges.
I don't believe I will use other centralized exchanges when I can use something like this dex.
I once had an order to stop sell 500 ETH on Kraken cancelled while I was on vacation, costing me close to $100k before I was able to do anything. Simply because they can on a centralized exchange.
To me that is just as bad as losing bitcoin on Mt. Gox. The only solution to it is a proper dex.
Shit like this cannot happen here. ETH is not going to change some rule, or come up with arbitrage bull shit if it is what some company wants.
Something like this is a major accomplishment for human kind. It is a technical and social leap forward. And yes I know this sounds corny.
Liquidity
Ethfinex combines the centralized order book with the decentralized one. I guess they have built some sort of bridge or arbitrage into their exchange.
That is fantastic, and I think may make all the difference. I think ultimately all exchanges should happen decentralized, primarily for security reasons, but in the meantime we need the liquidity of centralized exchanges.
The difference
Ethfinex runs on the ZRX or 0x protocol (https://0x.org/).
It is not the only one that uses it, I just happen to choose it. I was impressed how smooth the actual order execution happened.
I feel as an investor I may have underestimated this project.
Summary
I am just impressed.
There is a world of difference from where we are today and what infrastructure we now have to a few years ago. I feel the power of these protocols has not been seen by many, but to me it is crystal clear how the future may look like.
The fact that we can use DEXes now already is mindblowing and the usability impressive.
Go use it. Think of what it means to replace all you must share today just to trade with a key that empowers you completely: Your Passport, Utility bill and other personal information you normally have to share with a centralized exchanges. Give all that is dear to you and follow whatever rule they impose just so you can trade. Well now you literally can use a hardware wallet like trezor or ledger and trade right from it.
Those implications are profound!
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