Lesson 04 · Unit 1 · General
What is a DEX?
A DEX — decentralized exchange — is a program on the chain that holds liquidity pools and executes the swap formula you just learned. Nobody approves your trade and nobody holds your money between trades: you swap straight from your own wallet, and the tokens land back in it in the same transaction.
CEX (Binance, Coinbase)
DEX (Raydium, Orca)
Who holds your funds
The company, until you withdraw
You, always
Who can list a token
The company decides
Anyone, instantly, no permission
Account needed
Sign-up + identity checks
None — just a wallet
If it disappears
Your deposits go with it
Funds were never there to lose
The freedom cuts both ways
Anyone can list a token on a DEX in minutes — that is why new tokens appear on Solana by the thousand every day, and why nobody checked any of them before you got there. The open door is the feature AND the reason this academy exists.
DEX
A decentralized exchange: an on-chain program that swaps tokens against liquidity pools. Self-custody, permissionless listings, no operator holding your funds.
Where this goes next
Anyone can create a pool, which raises two questions: whether the money in it can be taken back out, and how your order finds the best one.