Bankruptcy lawyers for centralized exchange FTX are making a lot of money.

As I read the news yesterday about bankruptcy lawyers working on the FTX case earning 2000 USD per hour, or 16,000 dollars per day and 80,000 USD per week, I had two thoughts:
First, that’s money coming out of FTX that’s not going to the investors whose money was deposited on that exchange.
Second, if FTX had been a DEX or Decentralized Exchange, those investors could have withdrawn their money without asking the bankruptcy court for permission, and they would not be waiting for the lawyers to give them back their money. One big reason is that FTX is a centralized exchange or CEX.
This is not about lawyers, this is about CEFI versus DEFI.

This means the FTX investors sent their cryptocurrency assets from their wallets where they had control, to FTX wallets, where FTX controlled those assets.
It also meant the FTX investors sent their funds from wallets visible on the blockchain explorer to wallets which are requiring cryptographic analysis to figure out what happened.
So the investors’ assets moved from a highly visible wallet they had control of, to an nearly invisible wallet which was controlled by FTX.
This what it means to deposit your funds on a CEX or Centralized Exchange.
Other CEXs include Binance, Coinbase, Gemini and Kraken.
A CEX is the opposite of what cryptocurrency is suppose to be about.

DEX or Decentralized Exchange

On a DEX the funds would be controlled by the investors wallets, so they can withdrawal them at anytime.
On a DEX the funds are visible at all times, so the investors know where their funds are at all times.
In plain English the DEX is transparent and secure. The investors control their funds, and the investors know where their funds are at, at all times. The CEX is the opposite: opaque and insecure.

First, because it’s easy. Humans like easy.
Second, because if the people running a CEX are honest or the country the exchange is in has strict laws, investors funds are safe.
FTX Japan still has all its investors funds because of very strict Japanese Laws regarding CEXs.
Binance had literally thousands of investors withdrawal over 2 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin in the week after the FTX exchange declared bankruptcy. All their investors got their money back if they wanted it.

Cryptocurrency is about Trustlessness, you are supposed to control your crypto with your private keys, so you don’t have to trust anyone.
Cryptocurrency is about Self-Custody, as in you control your money.
Cryptocurrency is Permissionless, meaning you shouldn’t have to ask someone else for your money, you should be able to take it back anytime you want.
Cryptocurrency is about Transparency, meaning you shouldn’t have to wonder where your money is, you can see it on the blockchain explorer.
You have these things with DEXs, but you have to learn how to use the tools.

A CEX takes control of your money, and most of the time you don’t know where your money is.
A DEX INTERACTS with your wallet, so you control depositing and withdrawaling your funds, you can see your funds on the DEX blockchain explorer, and you don’t have to trust, it is transparent and you are in control, most of the time.
CEXS are easy, DEXs require you to study a bit and learn how to self-custody your funds.
It’s hard to learn about DEXS and CEXS, but since it is about something as important as your money, it is probably worth it.
By the way, I am still learning, so if your new, start reading, the start using these tools.
You can learn it the same way the old timers did: have someone tell you how to do it, read how to do it, do it with small amounts of money, note any mistakes, read more, ask more questions, and do it again.
You will get it, and I think it will be worth it.