Exchanges are essential for the functioning of the crypto market. They provide the necessary liquidity for users to perform trades and act as a vital bridge between crypto and fiat currencies.
To better understand Zenfuse, one of the most innovative trading platforms to be released in recent years, we decided to publish an article reviewing the whole history of crypto exchanges.
We will be offering an overview of the earliest crypto exchanges and how they evolved over the years thanks to technological advancements, new services, and improved user interfaces.
Mt Gox and early exchanges (2010–2014)
In the first months of Bitcoin’s existence, the cryptocurrency lacked any kind of real-world value. That was until the first crypto exchanges like MtGox started to emerge.
Although MtGox wasn’t the first crypto exchange ever created, it quickly became the most used. At one time it handled over 70% of all bitcoin transactions worldwide.
However, that quickly changed after the largest Bitcoin heist ever, the infamous collapse of MtGox, took place in 2014. Over 850,000 Bitcoins were reported to be missing amidst unclear statements from the exchange. There are still ongoing litigations being settled in court regarding the incident.
MtGox served as a cautionary tale to both crypto exchanges and users, reminding them to take any extra steps necessary to ensure assets remained secure.
Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and derivatives trading (2014–2020)
In early 2014, the NXT Asset Exchange was first introduced, paving the way for other protocols as the first-ever decentralized exchange (DEX).
While DEXs took some years to really take off and see some kind of substantial adoption, exchanges like Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Binance quickly rose to prominence in the years following the MtGox incident. Coinbase, in particular, become a mainstream recognizable brand after becoming the first crypto exchange to be listed on NASDAQ stock exchange.
Derivatives trading also started picking up some steam around the same time. While Bitcoin futures was the preferable derivatives product being traded early, BitMex and its perpetual swap services started enticing traders and become extremely popular throughout 2017/2018.
Zenfuse and the current landscape
With the advent of decentralized finance (DeFi), DEXs started to see huge growth in adoption and usage ever since the DeFi summer of 2020. But despite DEXs rise in popularity, centralized exchanges still have a dominant share of the total trading volume.
However, a new breed of exchanges like Zenfuse is changing the crypto landscape. Zenfuse combines the best of both worlds, allowing users to trade in both centralized and decentralized exchanges from a single interface.
Zenfuse also standouts due to its advanced toolset, which allows traders to make efficient and time-saving trades. Our sophisticated analytics and portfolio management tools allow users to carefully plan out their trading strategies. The panic sell button, a never-before-seen feature in crypto exchanges, allows traders to sell all of their coins, across multiple exchanges, with just one click of a button.
About Zenfuse
Zenfuse is a powerful all-in-one platform for cryptocurrency traders and investors.
It aggregates multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing control of funds via API, and powers up the trading process, making trading more profitable, simple, and stress-free.
Our cross-platform app provides rich analytics of both your portfolio and order history, giving you the ability to control your funds on a mobile device.
