Decentralized Exchange Market Microstructure

Architecture

Decentralized exchange market microstructure fundamentally diverges from traditional order book systems through its reliance on smart contracts and on-chain order matching. This architecture eliminates intermediaries, fostering peer-to-peer trading directly on a blockchain. Consequently, the microstructure is shaped by the underlying blockchain’s consensus mechanism, block size, and gas costs, which directly influence transaction throughput and order execution latency. The design inherently promotes transparency, as all trades are recorded immutably on the ledger, though privacy-enhancing techniques are increasingly integrated.