A crypto exchange is a trading platform where you buy and sell digital currencies such as bitcoin and ethereum and convert them into euros. The platform brings buyers and sellers together and, on the basis of supply and demand, sets the price at which a transaction takes place.
For a high-net-worth investor, what matters is not only how it works, but above all the question of who holds the assets and what supervision the platform falls under. That is where the distinction that truly counts lies.
The order book at the heart of trading
A centralised exchange operates with an order book. It lists all outstanding buy and sell orders, arranged by price. As soon as a buy order and a sell order meet, the system matches the two and executes the transaction. The difference between the highest buy price and the lowest sell price is known as the spread. The deeper the order book, the smaller the price impact of a large order.
Custody risk on an exchange
Anyone who holds assets on an exchange hands over control of the private keys. The platform holds the crypto on your behalf and you trust that you can withdraw it at any time. Bankruptcies and hacks in the sector have shown that this counterparty risk is real. Those who prefer to manage the keys themselves opt for a separate custody solution and do not bear that risk, although they then assume full responsibility for security themselves.
Centralised or decentralised
Alongside the centralised exchange, the CEX, there is the decentralised variant, the DEX. A CEX is operated by a company that maintains the order book and takes the assets into custody. A DEX has no central operator. Trading there runs through smart contracts on a blockchain, where users trade directly from their own wallet and retain the keys themselves. Prices are often established through automated liquidity pools rather than a classic order book.
MiCA and counterparty risk
Since the European MiCA Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), providers of crypto-asset services require authorisation as a CASP. In the Netherlands, the transitional regime ended on 30 June 2025, after which a MiCA authorisation became mandatory to continue offering crypto services. The AFM grants these authorisations, whereas previously DNB administered the registration under the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft). For a fund, the choice of executing platforms thus becomes a matter of careful selection: authorisation, custody structure and counterparty risk weigh more heavily than the lowest fee. How the European framework for crypto-asset service providers relates to the one for fund managers is explained in MiCA versus AIFMD.
The Callisto Capital approach
For Callisto Capital, what counts is not the lowest fee but a careful selection of trading platforms and custody solutions, so that counterparty and custody risk remain manageable. As a Dutch registered investment fund under the AIFMD-light regime, not subject to ongoing supervision by the AFM, we manage the portfolio according to fixed rules, with an emphasis on risk management, diversification and transparency. Participation is open from an investment of 100,000 euro.
This publication is informational in nature and does not constitute investment advice.
