Some centralized exchanges will even let you deposit Ethereum/Matic/Avax from many different chains and issue real tokens to your exchange wallet.
This is a huge misnomer, because the tokens on an exchange aren't 'real' tokens, ever. Tokens on an exchange are always exchange-pegged tokens. The only real tokens are the ones we control in self-hosted wallets.
This probably sounds weird to 90% of the people who read it, so it's worth further explanation. There's a reason why Hive on HiveEngine is called SWAP.HIVE. Same for SWAP.BTC, SWAP.DOGE, and whatever else. This is because SWAP.HIVE isn't Hive, it's a token pegged to Hive.
Similarly, this is true for ALL exchanges, not just Hive engine. So when we see BTC on Coinbase, that isn't BTC. That is actually a token pegged to BTC and they just call it BTC out of simplicity instead of Pegged-BTC, which is what it actually is.
Not sure how relevant this not-your-keys-not-your-crypto rant is, but whatever.
Is what it is.
All tokens on exchanges are the original IOUs.
Decentralized bridges take it to the next level.