🚨 Is This The Endgame for CEX?

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Ethereum’s price might be snoozing, traders feel boring, but devs? They're grinding non-stop, making moves that could flip the game.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• 🚨 Is This The Endgame for CEX?

• 🚀 Can SOL Dethrone ETH?

• ⭐ 5 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

• 🤡 Meme Of The Day

🚨 Is This The Endgame for CEX?

The crypto trading scene is changing fast. Centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Mt. Gox, OKX, and Binance used to rule the game, making it easy for people to buy and sell digital assets. But with risks like hacking and the fact that users have to give up control of their private keys, things are shifting. Enter decentralized exchanges (DEXs), which are steadily gaining more and more market share and giving CEXs a run for their money.

1️⃣ DEXs Are No Longer a Side Story. They’re Headlining.

For the first time ever, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) hit $560 billion in monthly trading volume in Jan 2025. That’s over 20% of the spot market, up from just 0.04% in 2020.

And it’s not just volume — it’s ecosystem-wide:

• 948 DEXs are operating in 2025, vs 212 CEXs

• DeFi TVL shot up from $52B → $140B in 2024 — a 160% increase, boosting on-chain liquidity.

2️⃣ Why are DEXs Booming?
Because they solve a lot of the problems people have with CEXs:

• Full control – No need to give up private keys.

• Transparency – Trades live on the blockchain, not behind a server

• Early token access – Like the memecoin $TRUMP.X ( ▲ 2.68% ) on Solana DEXs (went from $0.18 to $75 = 41,000% in 24h).

• Open listing – Anyone can list tokens without paying CEX "grease" fees.

And don’t forget derivatives DEXs like Hyperliquid – $6.2B daily volume, 60% of decentralized derivatives.

2️⃣ Why CEXs Still Matter (For Now)

Despite the DEX rise, CEXs still dominate for some very good reasons:

• High liquidity – Easier for large trades with minimal slippage.

• Better tools – Margin, futures, advanced orders.

• User experience – CEXs are easier for newcomers.

• Fiat on/off ramps – Simpler to deposit and withdraw real money.

• Customer support – Try getting help on a DEX.

• Regulatory compliance – KYC/AML = institutional trust.

But, the fact that trading on DEX are publicly displayed is also a disadvantage.

3️⃣ CEXs Are Going Hybrid to Stay Alive

They’re not ignoring the shift. They’re adapting.

• Binance Alpha 2.0 = trade DEX tokens inside Binance

• MEXC DEX+ = on-chain execution, no external wallet needed

This hybrid model is sneaky powerful: You get DEX access with CEX convenience.

Trader Take:

The lines between CEX and DEX are blurring fast.

What started as a fight might end in a merge.

→ Traders want speed + control

→ Platforms want volume + stickiness

This isn’t “DEX vs CEX” anymore. It’s about who can deliver both.

🚀 Can SOL Dethrone ETH?

Ethereum's been… kinda flat lately. Price-wise, not much excitement. And yeah, people are complaining. But under the hood? Devs are working non-stop.

1️⃣ Ethereum’s Massive Tech Shift

ETH devs are planning to replace EVM with a RISC-V instruction set.

Why it matters:

• Makes smart contracts faster + more efficient, especially for zero-knowledge proofs (ZK tech is huge for scalability and privacy).

• Old contracts stay supported — no disruption.

• This could push Ethereum into new performance territory that matches or beats newer chains.

This isn’t a small change. It changes how code runs on the base layer.

Gas Limit: Going from Prius to Tesla Plaid

Ethereum developers want to improve throughput by increasing the gas limit 4x and they’re planning to raise the gas limit to 150 million in the Fusaka upgrade (late 2025).

Gas limit = the “workload cap” per block.

→ Current: ~30M

→ Planned: 150M (5x)

What that means:

• More transactions in each block

• Potentially lower fees

• More complex smart contracts can run smoothly

They’re testing this carefully — too much gas can break things.

All of this is about scaling without needing brand-new features.

2️⃣ ETH Developer Activity: Can It Back From The Dead?

Ethereum’s Layer 2s like Arbitrum, Optimism help it scale.

But here's the catch:

• They pull users off Layer 1, fragmenting ETH’s activity.

• Solana is one-chain, high-speed, no rollups needed.

So while Ethereum is scaling “horizontally,” Solana is keeping things tight and simple. That appeals to new users and app builders.

3️⃣ Ethereum Still Runs the Tokenization Game

Everyone’s hyping tokenization. Even BlackRock said they want to tokenize “as much as possible, as fast as possible.”

But here’s what most people ignore:

→ Ethereum is still the backbone of this trend.

Facts:

• Ethereum hosts the majority of tokenized real-world assets right now.

• Competitors like Solana, Polygon, and Near? They’re tiny slices of the pie.

• The chart literally shows Ethereum’s area in blue — it's massive compared to the rest.

Why this matters:

• If tokenization becomes the next big thing in finance (and it likely will), Ethereum already owns the infrastructure.

• Institutions will follow liquidity and ecosystem maturity — both of which Ethereum has.

So while Solana might win on speed, Ethereum’s deep integration with tokenization is its trump card.

4️⃣ Stablecoins: $ETH.X ( ▼ 0.22% )  Still Runs the Show

Despite all the new chains…

→ $USDT.X ( ▲ 0.09% ) on Ethereum = 54% of its total supply (as of end-2024).

Stablecoins matter because:

• They’re the bridge between fiat and crypto.

• The U.S. is pushing for dollar-based stablecoins to maintain USD dominance.

So as long as ETH runs most stablecoin traffic, it's still central to digital finance.

5️⃣ Inflation: $ETH.X ( ▼ 0.22% )  vs $SOL.X ( ▲ 0.92% )  vs $BTC.X ( ▼ 0.95% )  

Here's the honest comparison:

ETH has no hard supply cap — and that’s fine.

Why? Because what matters is % growth, not absolute numbers.

→ ETH supply = ~120M

→ Even if ETH issuance stays flat, inflation % drops over time.

→ As more ETH gets burned (via base fees), inflation will keep falling.

Meanwhile, Solana is rising fast — but it’s still inflating way more.

Ethereum wins that round.

6️⃣ Solana’s Rise Is Real - Institutional Activity and Growth in Memecoin:

Solana isn’t just “faster” and “cheaper.”

It’s now a target for institutional buyers.

Examples:

• At least 4 major companies announced they’re buying and holding $SOL.X ( ▲ 0.92% ) (not ETH).

• One of them: JNVR (Defi Development Co.) — filed with the SEC to raise $1B to buy $SOL.X ( ▲ 0.92% ) .

These aren’t crypto bros. These are public firms. And they’re skipping Ethereum.

→ But the real story is Solana’s institutional potential. We’re seeing huge moves in the memecoin space.

According to Nico, The market's on the up! $SOL.X ( ▲ 0.92% ) is climbing to $140 (up 46% in just 15 days), and $BTC.X ( ▼ 0.95% ) has surpassed $90k, signaling a real recovery. With that, memecoins on Solana are seeing a revival too. 💥

Here’s the scoop from Pump(.)fun, a major platform for Solana memecoins:

• They’ve racked up $650 million in total revenue, with $1-2.7 million in daily trading volume this April. 🤑

• 20-40k new tokens are being minted daily, but only 0.4-0.8% make it, showing intense competition.

• 150k active wallets are still going strong, despite the dip from a high of 400k.

So, is memecoin “dead”? Nah! Nico said it’s evolving and still super attractive due to easy participation and big profit potential. With the market bouncing back, this space is set to grab even more liquidity and continue growing.

7️⃣ ETH Must Win 2025 - Or It Risks Falling Behind

This is a make-or-break window for Ethereum.

If these upgrades land well (Fusaka, Patra, RISC-V), ETH stays in control.

If not? It risks being passed by Solana - maybe not in dev count, but in mindshare, price, and growth.

Right now, Solana’s narrative is stronger.

ETH needs to execute - not just “promise.”

Trader Take

ETH has the network.

SOL has the speed - and momentum.

ETH is upgrading fast.

SOL is catching up faster.

This isn’t about narratives anymore - 2025 will show who’s really ahead.

⭐ 5 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

💵 Trump + crypto = billion-dollar combo? CNN says the Trump fam — Donald, Eric, even Melania — has banked $1B from crypto, and Trump’s net worth? Doubled to $5B.

🌟 Recap of TOKEN2049 in Dubai and what you can learn

💰 Bhutan - the happiest country in the world - has been busy stacking cash. Over the past 40 days, their national fund (DHI) quietly sold 2,584 $BTC.X ( ▼ 0.95% ) , pulling in around $248M. Their stash dropped from 10,070 to 7,486 BTC (still worth $720M). Even after selling, Bhutan still on top 4 countries that hold the most BTC.

🧓Warren Buffett is finally stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway — after nearly 60 years at the helm. He’s cash pile just hit a new record: $347.7 billion. But here’s the key: 70% of Berkshire’s portfolio is still in stocks. Only 30% is cash.

🍎 Apple’s court loss to Epic Games means U.S. app developers can now include external payment links, bypassing Apple’s 30% fee. This could open the door for more NFT and crypto apps offering purchases without hefty commissions!

🤡 Meme Of The Day

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This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Traders should conduct thorough research, understand the risks, and carefully evaluate their decisions before investing in cryptocurrency.