CEX
Centralized exchange — a company custodies your funds and matches your trades.
Definition
CEXs (Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, OKX, Bybit) are the on-ramp for most retail. Fiat deposits, deep order books, mobile apps, customer support. The trade-off: they hold your keys. Not your keys, not your coins — FTX, Celsius, and Mt. Gox are the reminders.
A CEX listing is a major event for a memecoin: it unlocks retail flow, adds liquidity, and usually pumps the chart on announcement. Most memecoins never get one. Use CEXs for fiat in and out; hold size in self-custody.
Examples
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Binance listing announcement, +180% in an hour, -40% two days later.
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Keep trading balance on the CEX, long-term bag in a hardware wallet.
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FTX collapse taught anyone who didn't already know: your balance on a CEX is an IOU.
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