Best For: Users looking to take the next step

If you hated my Robinhood pick because it’s too ‘mainstream’ you’ll love my final selection…the largest (semi)decentralized exchange [DEX] in the world…IDEX.

(More on the ‘semi-decentralized’ later)

I love decentralized exchanges. Both for philosophical reasons, such as no central point of failure or authority, and for more pragmatic ones like finding ‘hidden gems’ even earlier than on places like Bibox. In my 5 years in crypto (since 2013), 3 of the 5 biggest gains I ever made were on tokens only available through a DEX at the time…usually fresh out of an ICO.

The other 2, in case you’re curious, were Bitcoin (duh) and a scammy pump ‘n dump (later learned) that I was lucky enough to take profit from at the peak.

From a technical standpoint DEXs far out perform their centralized counterparts. With no central point of failure there’s no single server (or small group of servers) that can crash, be shut down or get hacked like Mt. Gox. With no central authority it can’t be ‘mismanaged’ nor is their an opportunity to ‘exit scam’. Your personal information is kept private and secure as you don’t go through a verification process. The list of benefits goes on and on.

With so many reasons to use a DEX, then, why would anyone use their centralized counterparts? Ease of use and volume. Crypto exchanges, in general, aren’t intuitive and can be intimidating especially to newer users. Decentralized versions add an additional layer of confusion so many just don’t bother with them. Less users = less volume.

The International Decentralized Ethereum Exchange [IDEX] is currently the #1 ranked decentralized exchange in terms of trade volume (so you can finally delete that EtherDelta bookmark). Possibly more important than its size is IDEX’s ease of use, when compared to other DEXs, and the guidance it offers users. There’s a “Getting Started” 1-pager, multiple detailed and easy to follow guides and tutorials, a picture-laden FAQ and even a Live Help chatbox powered by Freshchat. IDEX is doing everything possible, way more than most others, to overcome the main barrier to entry…understanding how to use it.

I mentioned earlier that DEX’s are a great place to find microcaps, post-ICO but pre-exchange listed tokens, and hidden gems. IDEX is a digital goldmine in this regard with over 400 tokens currently available to trade. A prime example is the Aurora DAO’s native staking token AURA. Am I going to start shilling certain tokens now? No. Not my style. But AURA is very closely connected to the IDEX exchange which I’ll explain next.

Transparency: At the time of writing I am not invested in AURA but do intend to be within 30 days. I will never buy an asset, that I do not already own, that I am writing about until after the article is released. For more details please see my full transparency disclosure.

The Aurora DAO is a “suite of dApps and protocols that make up a fully decentralized banking and financial network” according to their FAQ. AURA is the native Aurora network token which incentivizes holders to help secure the network via staking rewards. IDEX was launched by Aurora and, hence, is a part of that Aurora network. There’s quite a bit more to the Aurora DAO including it’s current semi-centralized state and roadmap to complete decentralization. I’d recommend CoinDigital’s summary if you’re interested. For our purposes it’s easiest to view AURA as IDEX’s native exchange token that pays staking rewards. An investment in AURA is an investment in IDEX and the Aurora DAO network as a whole.

IDEX is facilitating the growth of DEXs in general, provides access to a wide variety of lesser known tokens, and offers investor rewards through AURA. More than enough reason to be considered one of the top adoption-growing exchanges of 2018.