What Is EtherDelta?

Most cryptocurrency users are always looking to experiment with different trading platforms. Today’s centralized platforms do not offer much in the way of variety, as virtually all platforms offer similar fees and limits these days. Exchanges largely differ in just two respects: the coins they support, and whether or not they allow for margin trading. However, the world of decentralized exchange platforms has seen some new and interesting competition in recent days. One of the emerging platforms goes by the name of EtherDelta and has quickly become the place to be when it comes to ICO token trading.

A Quick Rundown of the EtherDelta Project

As is the case with nearly any decentralized peer-to-peer exchange technology, there is no website to sign up for whatsoever here. EtherDelta is a project source code that can be downloaded from GitHub and must be run on one’s computer if they wish to access this exchange protocol. This is a lot more cumbersome than using a centralized exchange, but it also allows users to determine their own trading markets. In fact, protocols such as EtherDelta could soon have more trading markets than any other altcoin exchange in the world today.

The project is mainly advertised as a decentralized Ethereum token exchange, so it will be difficult to find any Bitcoin-related market using the protocol. Then again, Ethereum has its own solid value right now and can easily be exchanged for fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies through other platforms if needed. However, there are some upcoming Ethereum-enabled debit cards which will make the process of spending ETH on goods and services a lot easier than it is right now.

The objective of EtherDelta is to allow anyone to trade Ethereum-based tokens. This makes it a perfect solution for people looking to exchange cryptocurrency ICO tokens. Most exchanges either hold off on listing tokens or never do so because there just are too many from which to choose. This does not mean the unlisted tokens do not deserve to be traded, but it requires a bit of work to get trading set up. A lot of recent ICO tokens are automatically trading on EtherDelta and most of them generate a fair amount of trading volume.

Like more traditional crypto exchanges, there is a fee structure in place, currently locked at 0.3%. This is a taker fee, and deposits, withdrawals, and maker transactions can all be executed free of charge. EtherDelta is a convenient solution that truly enables peer-to-peer trading without central oversight or centralized servers which control user funds. It does require users to own either Ethereum-based tokens or Ethereum itself before they can partake in any trades, though. EtherDelta is not a perfect solution for novice users, but the platform has a ton of potential when it comes to cryptocurrency trading itself.

As there is no centralized server in place, scalability of the EtherDelta protocol is far less of an issue that it otherwise would be. Right now, most users access EtherDelta through its GitHub repository directly. Some trading pairs will always be more lucrative than others, but we presently see most ICO markets bringing in at least US$10,000 worth of trading volume per day. Popular trading pairs right now include EOS, BlockCAT, Rialto, 0x, and OmiseGo, to name a few.

Protocols such as EtherDelta can be very successful in the long run, although there is still a lot of room left for future improvements. The project looks incredibly great, but it is not necessarily the most convenient solution for novice traders. Additionally, if the GitHub repository were to ever disappear, it is doubtful anyone would still have access to this decentralized solution. As such, we would advise users to grab a copy of this protocol from the repository rather than trading directly through the GitHub page itself.