ShapeShift is swapping business structures again, this time by getting rid of its entire trading desk.
The Colorado-based non-custodial exchange is now routing orders through decentralized finance (DeFi) applications in a bid to get rid of know-your-customer (KYC) regulations that gutted the cryptocurrency trading platform back in 2018.
The firm will gradually phase out its own centralized trading activity (and KYC policy) in favor of a decentralized alternative as it becomes “100% DEX-based for customers,” ShapeShift founder and CEO Erik Voorhees told CoinDesk in an email.
“ShapeShift’s original model was designed to protect users, providing instant liquidity without requiring them to trust a custodian,” Voorhees said. “We had to be the counterparty – the market maker – to provide that service at scale. The decentralized protocols are now providing a superior service, so we’re embracing this evolution and helping our customers easily connect with them.”
Founded in 2014, ShapeShift added a KYC requirement to
