All the exchanges on our list are centralized exchanges (CEX); a centralized exchange acts as an intermediary to connect your buy-and-sell orders to their appropriate buyers/sellers. A decentralized exchange (DEX) has no intermediary, and allows peer-to-peer exchanges via smart contracts. As smart contracts can be dangerous for new investors, or for anyone unfamiliar with the code inside them, it's best for most to stick to CEX before experimenting with DEX.