Switcheo, NEOs First Decentralized Exchange, Lists 19 ERC20 Tokens

Switcheo, a NEO-based decentralized exchange (DEX) launched earlier in the year, has added 19 popular Ethereum-based ERC20 tokens to its platform forming new trading pairs, the exchange recently announced on its Medium blog.

This news makes good on Switcheo’s earlier announcement that it would begin supporting ERC20 tokens, which CryptoGlobe reported on in September. The Singapore-based exchange now offers 44 exchange pairs in total, paired against NEO, GAS, its native SWTH token, and ETH tokens, according to data from CryptoCompare. The new listings follow on the launch of the inital Ethereum integration, only weeks ago, dubbed Callisto.

Although moving a respectable $2 million worth of daily volume back in April when the DEX first launched, Switcheo is now posting a paltry $82,000 in daily volume, perhaps reflecting the leaner times hitting the cryptoasset industry during 2018. Most of the tokens listed are on the newer/smaller side – but there are a couple of bigger names such as Kyber Network token (KNC), NEO itself, and the fairly new USD Circle (USDC) centralized stablecoin.

Switcheo does not have any know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. A rival ERC20 DEX, IDEX, was recently accused of implementing such policies, although there is apparently no evidence to support this accusation.

DEXs On Notice

The biggest bombshell in the DEX space as of late must be the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) prosecution of the creator of one of the oldest Ethereum DEXs, the no-frills EtherDelta exchange. The charge was operating an unregistered securities exchange, as some ERC20 tokens were considered such.

Zachary Coburn, the founder, settled and paid nearly $400,000 in fines to the SEC without admitting guilt, which was received by some as a controversially chilling message to DEXs.

A recent innovation concerning the DEX space is the Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) project, which utilizes Kyber Network functionality to join bitcoin and Ethereum tokens in a smart contract so as to allow bitcoin to be traded on Ethereum-powered DEXs.

CryptoGlobe conducted an interview with KNC CEO Loi Luu last month, where he said WBTC would bring the “best of both worlds: bring the most popular cryptocurrency [BTC] to Ethereum and allow it to be programmable….”