Slippage vs Price Impact: What They Mean for Your Swap
By Oddrix ·
When you swap on a decentralised exchange you trade against a liquidity pool, not another person. Two numbers decide how good your price really is: price impact and slippage tolerance. They sound similar but mean different things.
Price impact
A pool prices assets by the ratio of what it holds. When you buy token X, you take X out and put Y in, so X becomes scarcer and its price rises as your order fills. Price impact is the difference between the price before your trade and the average price you actually get. Big trades in small pools have big price impact.
Aggregators like Jupiter reduce price impact by splitting your trade across several pools. Oddrix shows the price impact Jupiter reports in the route details below each quote.
Slippage tolerance
Between the moment you get a quote and the moment your transaction lands on chain, other trades can move the price. Slippage tolerance is the maximum extra movement you accept. If the price moves further, the transaction fails instead of filling at a bad price. The quote shows this as minimum received.
How to set them sensibly
- Large, liquid pairs (SOL/USDC, ETH/USDC): 0.5% is usually plenty.
- Small or volatile tokens: you may need 1–3%, but high tolerance makes you a target for sandwich bots.
- If price impact is above a few percent, consider trading a smaller amount or a more liquid route.
Cross-chain swaps are different
THORChain quotes include a liquidity fee and a streaming option instead of a classic slippage setting. The total fee in basis points and the expected output are shown with each THORChain quote.
FAQ
Why did my swap fail with a slippage error?
The price moved more than your tolerance before the transaction confirmed. Nothing was swapped; you only paid the network fee. Re-quote and try again.
Is higher slippage tolerance bad?
It makes the swap more likely to go through, but you may get a worse price and become a target for front-running bots.
Not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. Oddrix never holds your funds or keys.
More guides
- How to Check if a Token Is a Rug Pull: 9 Checks Before You Buy
- Solana Mint Authority and Freeze Authority Explained
- How to Bridge Crypto Safely Between Chains
- How to Read a Crypto Swap Quote: Fees, Routes and Minimum Received
- What Does "Sign a Message" Mean? Wallet Sign-In Explained
- THORChain vs Jupiter vs LI.FI: Which Route Wins and When
- How to Create an ERC-20 Token on Base, Ethereum or BNB Chain
- How to Swap Crypto Without KYC (and Stay Safe Doing It)
- What Is THORChain? Native Cross-Chain Swaps Explained
- How to Create a Solana Token: A Clean Launch Checklist
- Crypto glossary