Immy Dorse 
At the BNBDay event in Tokyo this week, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao—better known as CZ—made a pretty interesting prediction. He thinks decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, are going to eventually overtake centralized ones in trading volume. Not tomorrow, maybe not even in a couple years. But eventually.
Right now, centralized platforms still rule. They’re easier to use for a lot of people, and the liquidity is just… there. But CZ seems convinced the tide is turning. He pointed to DeFi’s growing momentum, suggesting that a truly private, efficient DEX could really shake things up.
Where the innovation is happening
He even joked that if he were twenty years younger, that’s where he’d put his energy. Building a privacy-focused perpetual DEX, maybe something with AI. It’s where he sees real room for new ideas.
Sure, there are hurdles. Regulation is a big one, especially for real-world assets. Liquidity can be patchy. But despite all that, he’s betting on DeFi as the future.
And he might be onto something. A recent CoinGecko report showed DEXs actually grabbed their highest-ever share of spot trading volume last quarter. Centralized exchanges are still way bigger, no question. But their momentum might be slowing.
Binance itself is still the giant, but its spot trading volume fell to $1.47 trillion—down from over $2 trillion before. Others dropped even more. Crypto.com’s volume plunged 61%. Coinbase dipped too. It seems like traders are slowly moving elsewhere.
Why traders are looking at DEXs
A lot of that shift seems fueled by platforms like PancakeSwap. Their volume grew more than five times last quarter, pushing them to the top among decentralized exchanges. People are starting to care more about privacy, having control of their funds. They want flexibility, not just convenience.
It’s not just ideology, though. The tech is getting better.
The middle ground: hybrid platforms
Part of what’s helping DEXs grow is something called CeDeFi—a mix of centralized and decentralized finance. Big exchanges are putting liquidity into these hybrid systems. They offer low slippage, protection from MEV, faster trades. But they still settle on-chain, so there’s transparency.
According to Binance Research, these innovations are making DEXs more scalable. More competitive. They’re closing the gap with CEXs bit by bit.
DeFi’s regulatory environment helps, too. It allows for quicker experimentation. New features roll out fast, and that’s driving volume on-chain.
Meanwhile, centralized exchanges are still tied to retail mood swings, macro economics, all that volatility. Their spot trading figures rise and fall with the news cycle.
Maybe that’s why CZ sounds so sure. It’s not about one platform winning. It’s about the direction things are moving.