Serum DEX was a revolutionary Solana-based exchange with zero fees and ultra-fast trades. After FTX collapsed, the community kept it alive. Here's how it works today - and whether it's still worth using in 2025.
Serum Exchange Review: What It Was, Why It Vanished, and What to Use Instead
When you hear Serum exchange, a high-speed decentralized exchange built on Solana that used a central limit order book to match trades. Also known as Serum DEX, it was once one of the fastest and cheapest places to trade crypto without a middleman. Unlike most decentralized exchanges that rely on automated market makers (AMMs), Serum let users place real buy and sell orders like on a traditional stock exchange—except with near-instant trades and fees under a penny. It wasn’t just another DeFi project; it was a technical breakthrough that attracted traders tired of slippage and high gas costs.
Serum didn’t just exist in isolation. It was built on top of Solana, a high-performance blockchain known for fast transactions and low fees. Also known as Solana network, it enabled Serum to process over 30,000 trades per second—something Ethereum-based DEXs couldn’t touch. That speed made Serum a favorite among active traders and DeFi power users. But behind the scenes, Serum’s future was tied to FTX, the centralized exchange that funded and promoted it. Also known as FTX platform, it collapsed in late 2022, dragging Serum’s development, funding, and community support with it. Without FTX’s backing, Serum’s team faded. Updates stopped. Liquidity dried up. The website still exists, but it’s a ghost—no new features, no marketing, no real users. What was once a leading DEX became a relic.
So what does this mean for you today? If you’re looking for a fast, low-cost decentralized exchange on Solana, Serum is no longer the answer. The tools that replaced it—like Saber, Raydium, and Orca—are actively maintained, have deeper liquidity, and are backed by real teams. They don’t use the same order book tech as Serum, but they’ve gotten better at minimizing slippage and maximizing efficiency. And unlike Serum, they’re not tied to a bankrupt company.
You’ll find posts here that dig into dead exchanges, fake airdrops, and crypto projects that vanished overnight. Serum isn’t the only one. But it’s one of the clearest examples of how quickly things can fall apart when a project depends too much on a single centralized entity. The lesson? Don’t chase speed alone. Look for sustainability, active development, and community trust. The posts below show you what to watch for—and what to avoid—when evaluating any crypto exchange today.