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This guide helps users to compare and find the best decentralized crypto exchange in UAE for investing and trading with digital currencies. Cryptocurrency trading platforms often lack security, transparency, and regulation. Furthermore, the various exchanges in the United Arab Emirates offer different conditions, making choosing the ideal option for individual needs challenging.
To select the ideal service, investors need to be aware of nontransparent (scam) providers and understand the unique features of platforms, keeping in mind that they are not protected in case of the exchange’s bankruptcy. To help investors make an informed decision, considering different investment goals, we have reviewed and compared essential information to choose the ideal decentralized cryptocurrency exchange in UAE.
This guide evaluates, compares, and reviews 89 DeFi exchanges available in UAE to help users find the ideal platform for their needs. The highest-rated decentralized exchanges in UAE are listed below, followed by in-depth reviews, comparisons, and FAQs.
Best Decentralized Exchanges In UAE
- DyDx – Best Margin Trading Decentralized Exchange
- PancakeSwap – Best DEX for New Crypto Assets.
- Uniswap (v3) – Highest Volume Exchange
- Kine Protocol – Best Derivatives Exchange
- Curve Finance – Best Stable Coin DEX
Top 5 Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges In UAE Reviewed
Top decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges in UAE are reviewed below including pros, cons, and key features.
1. DyDx – Best Margin Trading Decentralized Exchange
DyDx is a decentralized crypto exchange for lending, borrowing, and margin trading. It was founded by Antonio Juliano (an ex Binance Engineer) in 2021. The exchange offers a wide range of trading possibilities including margin, spot, and perpetual trading. It has deep liquidity ($105.4 million in daily trading volume).
The DyDx proprietary platform is powered by Starkware. It is accessible through multiple devices including desktop (PCs, laptops, tablets), web and mobile apps Android, iOS).
Users are allowed to deploy expert advisors, robo-advisors, and other automated trading software via its API. The platform supports beginner to advanced order types (market, limit, stop-loss, FOK, and IOC).
DyDx allows traders and investors to earn passive income (in the form of interest payments) by lending their digital assets to other margin traders. The exchange charges no gas fee on ERC-20 tokens and no trading fees up to $100k/monthly trading volume.
DyDx offers access to 37 cryptocurrencies, including all top digital assets by market capitalization. The minimum deposit at DyDx is $10. Their customer support is available via email, phone and live chat in english and Arabic.
DyDx key features are listed below.
- Supports margin trading, lending and borrowing
- NO KYC requirements
- Gas-free ERC-20 token trading
- Beginner-friendly trading interface
- Up to 20x leverage trading with zero fees up to $100k/monthly trading volume
- Low minimum deposit of $10
2. PancakeSwap – Best DEX for New Crypto Assets
PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange running on the Binance Smart Chain. It offers access to a wide variety of digital assets, including 3,289 tokens and 5,617 trading pairs.
PancakeSwap offers a wide range of traditional crypto trading options including yield farming, staking, swapping and NFTs. The exchange also offers proprietary crypto products such as, Yield Farms, Initial Farm Offerings (IFOs), Syrup Pools, PancakeSwap Lottery and NFT Collectibles.
The PancakeSwap exchange has a built-in NFT marketplace for trading with NFTs. Additionally, the platform organizes trading competitions, a crypto lottery, and prediction competition, where users try to predict future digital asset prices to receive rewards.
PancakeSwap charges a 0,25% transaction fee for every hop (swap) on the exchange’s V2 Liquidity Pool.
PancakeSwap’s customer support is handled through their FAQ pages and the community Telegram channel. It has no live chat or any other form of support available.
PancakeSwap key features are listed below.
- Biggest decentralized exchange by user count (3,1 million users)
- Broad range of tradable cryptocurrencies (3,289 tokens and 5,617 trading pairs)
- Built-in NFT marketplace
- Access to passive income options through Syrup Pools, Farms and staking Reward system including lottery and prediction elements
- Access to ICOs right after their listing versus CAKE and BNB
- Low transaction fees of 0,25%
3. Uniswap (v3) – Highest Volume Exchange (Best Bitcoin Decentralized Exchange)
Uniswap is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2018 by Hayden Adams. It is the world’s largest DEX exchange by daily trading volume ($479,410,183.49). The exchange offers a variety of digital assets including 905 coins and 1,678 currency pairs. The maximum leverage available is 3:1.
The Uniswap platform has an easy to use interface for starters. It supports a variety of order types including market, limit, and OOC. Uniswap has a built-in NFT marketplace where users can mint and trade NFTs. Uniswap users have access to generate a passive income through staking, liquidity providing, and yield farming.
Uniswap does not require users to undergo any KYC or AML requirements. It allows users to purchase crypto coins via the platform’s on-ramp services provided by MoonPay (card and bank transfers).
Uniswap charges low swap fees starting at 0,3%. Those can be further reduced to 0,01%by holding the platform’s native Uniswap tokens. Most transactions on Uniswap come with additional gas fees.
Uniswaps customer support is available via a ticket system and Discord.
UniSwap key features are listed below.
- Large liquidity pool of ERC-20 tokens
- Built-in NFT wallet that allows NFT trading from OpenSea, X2Y2, LooksRare, Sudoswap, Larva Labs, NFT20, NFTX.
- Moonpay crypto on-ramp services that allows users to buy crypto with card and bank transfers
- Low swap fees starting at 0,3%.
- Automated Market Maker algorithm raises the price of in-demand tokens when buying pressure occurs
- Opportunity to trade BTC through wBTC (wrapped Bitcoin)
4. Kine Protocol – Best Derivatives Exchange
Kine Protocol is a decentralized derivatives exchange founded in 2020. It is one of the biggest DEX exchanges in the world with over 100,000+ registered users. The exchange offers access to 15 different crypto assets, including cross-margin derivative altcoin, gold and fiat pairs. The maximum leverage on the platform is 200:1.
The Kine Protocol platform interface is beginner-friendly. It features a wide range of order types including market, limit, conditional, and trailing stop orders. Risk management tools are available in the form of take-profits and stop-losses. The platform provides passive income options in the form of staking, liquidity providing, and yield farming. Users without crypto are allowed to buy coins on the platform using credit card fiat on-ramp services.
Kine Protocol ensures zero slippage through peer-to-pool trading. All trades are executed based on real-time price data. Additionally, users pay zero gas on layer 2 network transactions and have access to on-chain staking opportunities.
Kine Protocol charges a fixed trading fee of 0,1% per executed order. Fixed trading fees on HT, OKB, and WOO are 0,8%.
Kine Protocol provides high liquidity with a daily trading volume of over $300 million.
Kine Protocol key features are listed below.
- High liquidity and zero gas fees
- No KYC or AML requirements
- Cross-chain trading available (including ERC-20 to Lightning Network and vice versa)
- Easy-to-use trading interface (completely open source)
- Trading fee discounts by holding native tokens
- Competitive trading fees of 0,1% per order
5. Curve Finance – Best Stable Coin (Low Volatility) DEX
Curve Finance is a DEX exchange founded in 2020. It is among the biggest DeFi exchanges in the world with over 80 million users. The exchange offers access to swapping, stable coin staking, and liquidity mining (of stable coins versus Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoin pairs). Curve Finance is stablecoin and Ethereum-based, but allows users to trade tokens on other chains as well.
Curve Finance is a non-custodial DeFi platform allowing traders to keep coins within their own control, even if they choose to delegate them to various nodes and/or liquidity pools.
Curve Finance charges low transaction fees of 0,04% on each trade. 50% of that is delegated back to liquidity providers and veCRV holders. Holding the Curve Finance native tokens (VeCRV) allows various benefits to the holders including fee discounts and governance votes.
Curve Finance has low slippage. The exchange also features multiple liquidity pools and effortless wallet connection of MetaMask and several other commonly used wallets.
Curve Finance does not have traditional customer service. Users get help and information through their FAQ page, Twitter, Telegram, and Discord communities.
Curve Finance key features are listed below.
- Access to 208 cryptocurrencies
- Access to multiple liquidity pools for liquidity mining, yield farming, and swapping.
- Support for common hot wallets like MetaMask and TrustWallet.
- Access to detailed statistics like cross-pair trading volumes, total value locked, and order sizes.
- Synthetic staking and liquidity providing opportunities paying up to 10,19% APY.
- Competitive fees of 0,04% per transaction with 0,02% rebated to the liquidity pool.
- Support for a wide range of stable coins, including USDT, USDC, BUSD, QUSD, and DAI.
How To Choose The Ideal Decentralized Exchange in UAE To Buy Crypto?
Selecting the right exchange helps users to save on fees, increase safety and increase overall chances for profit. Criteria that help selecting the best decentralized exchanges in UAE are listed below.
- Reputation – Choosing a reputable DeFi crypto exchange increases traders safety, security and helps avoiding scams. The following criteria need to be considered for exchange reputation: regulatory compliance, number of users, positive users feedback & reviews and non-hacked history or artificially inflated track record.
- Security – High security standards prevent users from losing money to hack-attacks. The most common security factors to consider include end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and multi-signature wallets. Exchanges with a high level of security should be preferred.
- Transparent Proof of Reserves – DeFi crypto exchanges with transparent proof of reserves should be preferred. Proof of reserves prevents users from losing money on insolvent exchange. The most common proof of reserve ratio is 1:1.
- Liquidity – Exchanges with higher liquidity should be preferred. They guarantee low slippage, more reliable trade execution and lover pricing which increases chances for profitable trading.
- Transparent Trading Fees – Two types of fees need to be considered: trading fees (transaction fees, gas fees and flat fees) and non trading fees (deposit & withdrawal fees, conversion fees). Trading fees are transparent if they are clearly listed on the exchange website. Exchanges with transparent and low overall fees should be preferred.
- Crypto Trading Instruments – Exchanges with a broader selection of crypto assets should be preferred. The most common crypto assets and methods include: spot trading, margin (leveraged) trading, futures trading, perpetual trading, derivatives trading, options trading, swap trading, cross-margin trading, and crypto CFDs.
- Crypto Products – Exchanges with access to a wider range of crypto products should be preferred. They allow investment flexibility and increase chances for profit. The most common crypto products featured on DeFi platforms include NFTs, ICOs, ETFs, derivatives, staking products, yield farming products, liquidity mining opportunities, and lending facilities.
The 5 Best DEX Exchanges Compared
Key features of the top rated DeFi exchanges in UAE are compared in the table below.
| Exchange | DyDx | PancakeSwap | Uniswap (v3) | Kine Protocol | Curve Finance |
| Amount of Daily Active Users | 64,000+ | 2,800,000+ | 4,500,000+ | 7,000+ | 1,200,000+ |
| Trading Fees | Gas fee-free up to $100k/monthly trading volume | 0,25% per hop (swap) | Starting from 0,3% + gas fees | 0,10% per order (0,8% on HT, OKB, and WOO transactions) | 0,04% each transaction |
| Liquidity/Spot Volume (BTC) | $98,085,684 | $33,935,184 | $94,784,296 | $300,000,000+ | $54,630,116 |
| Number of Cryptocurrencies | 37 cryptocurrencies | 3289 tokens and 5617 trading pairs | 1,300+ cryptocurrencies | 15 cryptocurrencies, gold, and fiat currencies | 208 cryptocurrencies |
| Different Crypto Markets | Spot trading, derivatives, perpetuals, P2P | Spot trading, derivatives, futures, perpetuals, swaps, NFTs, P2P | Spot trading, derivatives, futures, perpetuals, swaps, P2P | Spot trading, cross margin derivatives, perpetuals, P2P | Spot trading, synthetic leverage trading,P2P |
| Other Crypto Products | Liquidity mining | NFTs, liquidity mining, yield farming, staking | NFTs, liquidity mining, yield farming, staking | Liquidity mining, yield farming, staking | Liquidity mining, yield farming, staking |
| Total Value Locked | $344,23 million | $2,26 billion | $4,09 billion | $4,924 million | $4,53 billion |
| Trading Platforms | Web and Mobile App (Android and iOS) | WebTrader Only | Web and Mobile App (iOS only) | WebTrader Only | WebTrader Only |
| Customer Support | Github, Twitter, Discord, YouTube, Reddit, FAQ, Community Forum, Developed Documentation and API guide | Twitter, Telegram, Reddit, Instagram, Github, Discord, YoutTube, Documentation Guide, Litepaper, Community Forum, Blog, FAQ | Discord, Governance Forum, Reddit, Uniswap Labs, FAQ, Reddit, Twitter | Twitter, Discord, YouTube, Telegram, Medium, Reddit, FAQ | Twitter, Telegram, Discord, Youtube, FAQ |
What are Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges?
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (DEXs) are peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplaces that operate on decentralized blockchain network allowing traders to transact directly between each other.
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges are often unregulated and don’t require KYC or AML authorisation. They allow users to generate a passive income with crypto through staking programs, liquidity mining, and yield farming.
What Is The Difference Between Centralized (CEX) and Decentralized (DEX) Exchanges?
The key difference between centralized and decentralized exchanges is in the level of control over the exchange, control over users’ funds and the level of trust that users need to place in the exchange.
Centralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges (CEX)
Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are platforms owned and operated by centralized entities that enable users to trade with cryptocurrencies using fiat currencies or other digital assets. These exchanges work on centralized networks (controlled by a central entity) where the exchange holds custody over all funds traded by its users and also manages all orders for the user. A high level of trust is required from traders and investors as they need to be sure the centralized exchange holds onto their assets and executes trades fairly.
Centralized exchanges are often run by companies and organisations that are subject to regulation by government agencies and regulatory watchdogs like the SEC, CySEC, ASIC, and FCA.
Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges operate through an advanced order book system. The price-matching algorithm of the exchange matches the orders of buyers and sellers at the best executable price given the trade volume and size of the trade.
Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges (DEX)
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges run on a decentralized ( peer-to-peer network) that allows buyers and sellers to trade digital assets directly with each other (without any middlemen). DeFi exchanges use blockchain technology and utilize smart contracts to execute all trades automatically.
Decentralized exchanges allow users to keep full control over their investments instead of transferring them to a central authority. Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges are often unregulated and don’t have KYC and AML authorisation in place. This provides users with more anonymity and privacy when trading and investing in cryptocurrencies.
What Types Of Traders Should Prefer Trading With A Decentralized Exchange?
Types of traders that should prefer trading on decentralized crypto exchanges are listed below.
- Intermediate to Advanced Traders – Decentralized exchanges are more feature-rich and have more enigmatic user interfaces. They are more complex and provide minimal documentation, guidance, and customer service.Users are expected to have sufficient cryptocurrency and blockchain knowledge.
- Traders Looking to Swap Cryptocurrencies – Decentralized exchanges are well-suited for traders and investors looking to swap one crypto for another. Additionally, fiat on and off-ramp services are often more expensive compared to centralized exchanges, making them no great options for users that don’t possess any digital assets.
- Low Volume Traders – 99% of all cryptocurrency trades are conducted on centralized exchanges, meaning that they generate the majority of the trading volume on the crypto markets. Decentralized exchanges have significantly lower trading volumes and liquidity and are not suitable for high volume trades.
- Traders That Want to be in Control of Their Own Crypto – Decentralized exchanges allow users to have full control over their funds and their storage. This makes them safer than their centralized counterparts.
- Traders Looking to Avoid Wash Trading – Decentralized exchanges only offer peer-to-peer trades, meaning that the cryptocurrency markets cannot be manipulated with trading techniques like wash trading (creating fake orders artificially raise or lower prices).
- Privacy-focused Traders – Decentralized exchanges offer a higher level of privacy compared to centralized exchanges because users are not required to provide personal information or go through lengthy KYC and AML checks.
- Transparency-focused Traders – Decentralized exchanges offer a higher level of transparency compared to centralized exchanges because all transactions are directly recorded on their publicly available blockchain networks. Users can verify each transaction and confirm there is no insider trading or other form of manipulation going on.
Conclusion
Trading with cryptocurrency is an excellent investment to achieve short and long-term profits and grow wealth. However, with the growing number of exchanges in the UAE, potential traders need to gather, compare and evaluate essential data to choose the ideal service for their needs.
This guide has worked hard to keep users safe and informed by comparing, evaluating, and reviewing the services of different exchanges. We have previously removed scams and unreliable offers lacking security features to help them make an informed decision. Our analysis results in a list of the best decentralized crypto exchanges in UAE, which is summed up in the table below.
| Exchange | Overall Score | Best For | Official Website | |
| #1 | DyDx | 4.9 | Best Margin Trading | Official website |
| #2 | PancakeSwap | 4.8 | New Crypto Assets | Official website |
| #3 | Uniswap (v3) | 4.8 | High Volume | Official website |
| #4 | Kine Protocol | 4.7 | Derivatives | Official website |
| #5 | Curve Finance | 4.6 | Stable Coins | Official website |
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Stefan Grasic (Dipl.-Jur) is the owner of Business24-7 and has considerable experience in the financial and investment niche, but also enjoys writing articles for the general readership. Stefan is an active stock, CFD, crypto and general investment researcher, advising blockchain companies such as Blockbird, GoCrypto, Hive Terminal at their start up level. Stefan began trading in 2010 as a college student. Money was tight,…