What is slippage in crypto?
DefinitionSlippage is the difference between the price you expect when you submit a trade and the price at which it actually executes. In crypto swaps it comes from price moves while your transaction waits and from the effect of your own trade on the market.
Why slippage happens
On a decentralized exchange, the price can change between the moment you see a quote and the moment your transaction is included in a block. Other trades land first, the market moves, or your order is large compared with the pool and pushes the price against you. The main causes are:
- Market movement while the transaction is pending
- Thin liquidity in the pool or order book
- The size of your own trade
- Other traders, including bots, getting their trades in ahead of yours
Slippage tolerance and minimum received
Slippage tolerance is the largest price change you accept, set as a percentage. A swap with 1% tolerance turns into a minimum received amount: if the trade would give you less, it fails or is refunded instead of filling at a worse price.
Set tolerance too low and swaps fail more often in a fast market. Set it too high and you can lose more than you expected, and bots can profit from your loose limit by trading just before and after you.
Slippage vs price impact
People often mix up the two. Price impact is the predictable part: how much your own trade moves the price, which can be calculated before you submit. Slippage is the unpredictable extra that happens between the quote and execution.
A large swap in a small pool can show high price impact even if the market doesn’t move at all. A small swap in a deep pool can still slip if the price jumps while it waits.
How to keep slippage low
Waletifi’s swap screen shows the minimum you’ll receive, a price-impact warning on large swaps and a live quote countdown before you confirm, and marks the result as success, refund or failure.
- Keep a low tolerance for large, liquid pairs, and raise it only when you understand why
- Split a very large swap into smaller ones
- Avoid thin pools and moments of sharp market moves
- Always read the minimum received before you confirm
