Exchanges and security How can I ensure that my crypto-assets are secure when trading in a certain exchange? Even when I have my private wallet, I should deposit into theirs before trading.
That is the risk you take when giving someone else control of the private keys to spend your coins. When you transfer them to an address in custody of a centralized exchange, that means they have the corresponding private keys to spend it. You need to do your own research and determine if the exchange has good security measures to protect from breaches.

Many decentralized exchanges let you retain control of the private keys, but you also have to do your research on the software implementation to make sure it's design is secure with your keys.