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DEX · PRICE IMPACT

DEX Price Impact: How to Read the Number Before a Swap

Price impact is how far your own trade moves the pool's price. In a constant-product pool it grows faster than the trade size.

By ChartsPod Editorial Team · Reviewed by ChartsPod Research
Published · Updated · 5 min read

Short answer

Price impact is the difference between the pool's current price and the average price your swap gets, caused by your trade moving along the pool's curve. In a constant-product pool holding 500 ETH and 1,500,000 USDC (price $3,000), buying with $3,000 moves the average price about 0.2%, $30,000 about 2.0% and $150,000 about 10.0%, before a 0.3% fee. Concentrated-liquidity pools can behave very differently depending on liquidity near the price. Size the trade so impact stays small relative to your expected gain.

What the number means

ReadingInterpretation
< 0.5%Small relative to pool
1–3%Meaningful cost; check alternatives
> 5%Trade large vs liquidity
Impact ≠ slippageImpact is deterministic at quote time; slippage is change after quote
Price impact by trade size, 500 ETH / $1.5M pool (%)Price impact by trade size, 500 ETH / $1.5M pool (%): $3k 0.2 %; $30k 2.0 %; $150k 10.0 %.PRICE IMPACT BY TRADE SIZE, 500 ETH / $1.5M POOL (%)$3k0.2 %$30k2.0 %$150k10.0 %
Constant-product example, excluding the 0.3% fee. Original ChartsPod editorial graphic.

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Checks before the swap

Price Impact checksPrice Impact checks: Impact % at your size; Pool type (constant product vs concentrated); Liquidity near current price; Fee tier; Split or route alternatives.PRICE IMPACT CHECKSImpact % at your sizePool type (constant product vs concentrated)Liquidity near current priceFee tierSplit or route alternatives
Each takes under a minute. Original ChartsPod editorial graphic.

Example

Worked: 30,000 USDC in, 0.3% fee, so 29,910 USDC enters the curve. Out = 500 × 29,910 ÷ (1,500,000 + 29,910) ≈ 9.775 ETH. Average price ≈ $3,069 including fee — about 2.3% above $3,000, of which ≈ 2.0% is impact.

Related: DEX Slippage Tolerance: How to Read the Number Before a Swap, DEX Volume-to-Liquidity Ratio: How to Read the Number Before a Swap.

Price impact is the difference between the pool's current price and the average price your swap gets, caused by your trade moving along the pool's curve.

Compare DEX Price Impact across Binance, Bybit, OKX and Hyperliquid markets.

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Questions readers ask

What is price impact?

How much your trade moves the pool price.

Is price impact the same as slippage?

No; slippage is change between quote and execution.

Why does impact grow fast?

The constant-product curve steepens.

Sources and methodology

DEX Screener behaviour comes from its official documentation; pool and token concepts from CoinGecko, Uniswap, Raydium and Solana documentation, as read on 17 October 2026. Examples use illustrative numbers and do not refer to any real token. Nothing here is a recommendation to trade any token.

  1. Uniswap: Concentrated liquidity — active liquidity within price ranges.
  2. CoinGecko onchain API: Top pools by token address (pool schema) — pool fields and nullability (fdv_usd, market_cap_usd, reserve_in_usd).

This article explains research tools and workflows. It is not financial advice, does not recommend buying or selling any asset and does not predict prices. Crypto derivatives carry a risk of rapid and total loss of margin.

CHARTSPOD EDITORIAL EDITION · RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ONLY · NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.