Centralized Exchanges, Custody, and OKX Trading Services
Summary
The article explains why OKX is classified as a centralized exchange: a company operates the venue, manages trading and onboarding, and generally holds customer assets unless users move them to the non-custodial OKX Wallet. It contrasts this model with decentralized exchanges, where users transact through smart contracts and retain control of their keys. The comparison covers custody, compliance, support, liquidity, speed, and available trading products. OKX is described as offering spot, margin, futures, options, staking, and wallet access to decentralized applications.
The document also discusses identity checks, proof-of-reserves, cold storage, multisignature controls, and trading fees, but it does not provide evidence that would let readers independently assess the strength of those safeguards or compare execution quality. Its licensing and US availability statements are time-sensitive, while fee examples may change by region, product, and account tier. The piece is an introductory platform overview, not a trading strategy or a detailed evaluation of exchange solvency, market risk, or custody risk.
Key ideas
- A centralized exchange operates the trading venue and typically holds customer funds.
- A non-custodial wallet gives users direct control of private keys and access to decentralized applications.
- The article contrasts CEX and DEX tradeoffs in custody, compliance, support, liquidity, and trading features.
- OKX is described as supporting spot, margin, futures, and options trading alongside wallet services.
- Proof-of-reserves and security controls are discussed, but the document does not independently validate their effectiveness.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.