Dream of Transparent & Secure CEX
CEO at HAI Group Co-Founder and Chairman at Hacken
On the future of centralized exchanges:
"I believe we're going to see absolutely different landscape in five years. I believe we're going to see a crash of big centralized exchanges... They fail the self-regulation. They are absolutely opaque... there is no global regulator and it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon."
On exchanges selling non-existent tokens:
"From my information I cannot prove it but from the founders who were involved in this exchanges in many cases they sell unexistent tokens... you think you bought the token but in fact you bought just a number in your account and you just spent your USDT or Bitcoin whatever what did you pay for this token."
On the Mauritania USDT experiment:
"They massively adopted the USDT there with the coverage of more than 50% of the population we're using USDT... the population get used to using US so well that they completely stopped using the banking applications and one and a half year ago all the big international banks left this country."
On the cost of open source voting:
"I was actually benchmarking like how much does a single vote costs for an initiator and on a pretty standard well-known layer one blockchains the cost of single vote is 0.003 cents. If you benchmark that to running any poll... the average cost because of this kind of physical preparation... varies around $9 to $10 at least in US."
Key Ideas
- 10 essential transparency steps for CEX:
- Financial accountability: Full-scope audits beyond proof-of-reserves (include all liabilities, not just user deposits)
- Broker vs exchange differentiation: Most "exchanges" are brokers transferring assets elsewhere - must disclose this
- On-chain verification: Circulation supply, unlock schedules, bridge monitoring - CMC/CoinGecko don't verify project claims
- Investor disclosure: Due diligence on token investors, entry prices, vesting schedules, wallet tracking
- Verified user metrics: Holders count, average holding time, trader vs holder ratio (currently hidden, enables selling non-existent tokens)
- Security framework: Certifications, bug bounties, penetration tests, supply chain security (Bybit hack example)
- Blockchain security: Node upgrades, proper maintenance (constant small hacks unreported)
- IT control audits: Can exchanges manipulate prices? October crash example - need forensic proof they didn't benefit
- Live stolen crypto monitoring: Better victim response, fund blocking with court orders (99.9% crypto not recovered)
- Real-time blacklisting: Industry-wide cooperation on flagged addresses
- Core problems: Exchanges lie constantly, no accountability, treat listing fees as bribes (5-10% supply), dump on retail
- Regulatory gap: No global regulator, traditional finance seeing opportunity, exchanges failing self-regulation
- Recommendation: Use DEXs, don't keep funds on CEX, learn self-custody
Dyma brings a rare combination: deep auditing expertise from his years at Deloitte and Ukrainian state agencies, paired with an unwavering commitment to transparency and security in the blockchain space. Since founding Hacken in 2017, he has transformed it into one of the world's most trusted blockchain security auditors, helping to establish the security standards that protect billions in digital assets.
His work addresses a fundamental challenge facing Ukraine and the global crypto economy: how do we build trustless systems that actually earn trust? As Co-Chair of the EEA DRAMA group and Vice President of the Blockchain Association of Ukraine, Dyma champions the highest security standards and pushes for greater transparency—essential ingredients for the Trustless Society that blockchain promises.
In the context of Ukraine's reconstruction, Dyma's perspective is invaluable. Building secure, auditable systems isn't just about protecting assets—it's about creating the digital infrastructure that can support transparent governance, accountable institutions, and economic resilience. His insights will help us understand how security and trust form the foundation upon which Ukraine can rebuild stronger.