The Unlucky Adventures of Lucky: Slippage Woes in Crypto Trading
Lucky:
“Ah! You won’t believe what happened today… I thought I was making a genius trade. I saw this token looking hot, trending on my favorite crypto Twitter feed. I clicked ‘swap’ faster than a hungry man at buffet time… and then… chaos.”
So, I wanted to buy 1 ETH worth of this new token. The price on the chart looked fine, all good. But when I checked my wallet after the trade… I had less of my token than I expected. WAY less. And somehow, my ETH balance dropped more than it should have.
Why? My friend called it slippage. Basically, it’s the difference between the price I saw on the screen and the price I actually paid. And guess what? On fast-moving or low-liquidity coins, that number can be like… huge. Like, “why am I paying double?” huge.
I learned a few things the hard way:
- Check the slippage tolerance – Most DEXs (like Uniswap or PancakeSwap) let you set it. Too low? Your trade fails. Too high? You might pay way more than you expected.
- Avoid tiny pools if possible – Low liquidity means big slippage. That’s why my “hot token” burned me.
- Don’t panic-click – Watching charts jump can make you impulsive. Take a breath, calculate, then trade.
Lucky then says
“Next time, I’ll be smarter. Less FOMO, more homework. Or maybe… I’ll just stick to coins with decent liquidity. My poor wallet deserves a break!”
Lesson for Beginners:
Slippage can silently eat your profits, even on a “winning trade.” Always check slippage tolerance, know your pool liquidity, and don’t rush trades. Trust me, your future self (and your wallet) will thank you. Check out my other adventures.
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