DEX is short for decentralized exchange. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin were designed to provide users with ownership and control over the asset, but this also makes users chiefly responsible for custody or forces users to send crypto assets to exchanges that hold the private keys for you. Decentralized exchanges, however, are built as smart contracts and function by interacting directly with Ethereum wallets. The exchange launches as Dapp within a Dapp browser in the wallet app or via the web by connecting Meta Mask and letting users trade assets the same way that is possible at a traditional exchange.