Steemit Crypto Academy Contest / S1W2 – Reviewing Centralized Exchanges

1. Discuss briefly Centralized exchanges and its Benefits to crypto users.

I'm going to assume that there are people who are just getting started in the crypto world reading this post and may have never heard of Exchanges.

In the Crypto world, there are two main groups of Exchanges: Centralized and Decentralized. Among several differences the ones I find most relevant are:

Precisely from these two aspects come what in my opinion are two benefits of the Centralized exchanges, such as A Centralized exchanges the vast majority of times will always have the liquidity to withdraw your crypto or to make an exchange, this is because the Centralized exchanges handle much higher volumes of money, and it is not necessary to wait for a user who is willing to exchange the crypto of our interest.

Another aspect, which I consider not less important is that for users who are new to the crypto world is usually easier to use for the first time Centralized exchanges, as its interface and mechanics are more friendly.

At the same time, the centralized exchanges offer a central figure that works as an arbitrator to control the operations between users. So if there is a problem such as a lost password, or any other problem concerning the use of the account, you can go to a central to ask for help.

1. What do you look out for when choosing an exchange to trade your crypto assest?.

This question is a very personal one, as each trader will state his reasons for choosing one exchange over another.

In my personal case, I look for three things in an exchange:

1- Freedom to exchange my crypto and to be able to move it from one place to another without restrictions. For example, there are centralized exchanges that allow you to withdraw a minimum amount of money, or only allow exchanges from 10 USD and up, as in the case of the Binance example.

2- What kind of cryptocurrencies are present in the exchange. Each trader has a group of cryptos which he follows, therefore for me, it is essential that these coins are in that exchange.

3- The maintenance rate or futures trading fees. Everyone who knows me knows that I like to trade cryptos perpetual futures, as I have the freedom to execute trades whether the price goes up (long) or down (short)... very similar to what is done in the Forex market.

However, most centralized exchanges have very high fees for keeping trades open for several days, and to be honest, if you don't have very high capital, these fees end up consuming your profits.

Also, if you are a swing trader like me, you will know that trades can be open for at least weeks. For this reason, low maintenance fees for futures trading are an important aspect of choosing an exchange.

3 Review your favorite centralized exchange and explain its unique features.

Based on the above, I have chosen FTX as my favorite centralized exchange.

HISTORY

FTX is a Centralized Exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang in 2019. Their goal was to create an Exchange that could improve all the problems present in other Exchanges, especially on cryptocurrency futures contracts.

This was one of the main aspects that attracted me to this Exchange.

FTX currently manages a volume of $9 billion, second only to OKEX and Binance.

This is beneficial for low capital accounts or people who are new to the crypto world. In fact FTX allows trading even with low fiat currency collateral.

QUANT ZONE

Also, FTX has an option that, to be honest, is still an enigma to me, which is called Quant Zone. This advanced option is made to set automatic orders that fulfill a macro trading strategy. It should be noted that it is dangerous if not used responsibly and with proper knowledge.

These Quant Zone rules can be varied, such as obtaining a leveraged token, or selling a perpetual or spot token if the price of a certain asset exceeds or exceeds a set limit or if an indicator approaches a specific index.