What is slippage?
Slippage is the difference between the price you expected when you pressed buy or sell and the price your trade actually filled at. It is a normal part of trading on-chain, and it is larger in thin or fast-moving markets.
Updated 2026-10-11
Why slippage happens
On-chain trades are not filled instantly. Between the moment a quote is shown and the moment your transaction is included in a block, other trades can land first and change the pool's price.
Slippage also comes from trade size. In a pool with little liquidity, your own order moves the price against you as it fills. This part is often called price impact.
What a slippage limit does
A slippage limit (or tolerance) is the worst price you are willing to accept, shown as a percentage. If the price moves past it before your trade settles, the trade is rejected instead of filling at a worse price.
Choosing a limit
- Too low and fast-moving trades fail repeatedly, which can cost network fees without a fill.
- Too high and you accept a worse price, and you give other traders room to profit at your expense (see MEV).
- Lower-liquidity tokens usually need a higher limit than established ones. Look at liquidity and your trade size before you set it.
On Verve
The token page Buy and Sell buttons quote and trade in one click, and fees are listed in the Terms. Quick buy on Pulse and Discover rows uses your preset amount and slippage settings. Slippage is separate from Verve's fee: a spot swap is 0.9% (0.81% for sign-up referrals) and network gas is paid to the chain.
Is slippage a fee?
No. It is a price difference caused by market movement and trade size. Fees are separate charges, such as Verve's spot fee and network gas.
Can slippage be zero?
Sometimes a trade fills at exactly the quoted price, but you cannot rely on it in a moving or thin market.
What happens if slippage exceeds my limit?
The transaction fails and no swap takes place, though the network fee for the attempt may still be spent.