What is a DEX aggregator?
Understand how DEX aggregators compare liquidity, choose swap routes and settle trades, with a worked example and practical limits to quoted prices.
Explore the reference
DEX essentials
Start with what an aggregator does, what a quote means and how an on-chain trade settles.
44 guides · Page 1 of 3
A limit price is not a stop-loss trigger
Separate an acceptable execution price from a condition that activates an order after a market threshold is reached.
A swap quote is not a completed trade
Track the difference between a calculated offer, authorization, submission and a settled token exchange.
AMM reserves and price feeds have different jobs
Separate the state that prices an AMM swap from an oracle or chart that reports a reference value.
Batch auctions vs Dutch auctions for token swaps
Compare auctions that group orders with auctions that change an individual order’s executable terms over time.
Coincidence of wants: matching opposite trading needs
Use a simple token example to see how opposing user orders can settle directly and what happens to an unmatched remainder.
Concentrated liquidity from a swapper's perspective
Understand active price ranges and combined liquidity curves without needing to manage an LP position.
DEX aggregator vs bridge: trading and moving assets
Distinguish exchanging tokens on one network from delivering assets to another network, including workflows that combine both.
DEX aggregator vs DEX: what changes for the trader?
Separate the exchange that supplies token liquidity from the routing service that selects how to use it.
Exact input vs exact output: choosing the right constraint
Choose between fixing your spending amount and fixing your receipt, with minimum-output and maximum-input examples.
Fill-or-kill vs partially fillable orders
Compare full-size fulfillment with partial fills, calculate proportional order limits and understand what remains open after a fill.
Firm vs indicative quotes in token trading
Distinguish a reference estimate from executable trade terms, and understand the conditions that still apply to a firm quote.
How a DEX limit order sets its exchange rate
Learn how token amounts, expiry and fulfillment rules encode a DEX limit order without guaranteeing a fill.
How arbitrage aligns pool prices with outside markets
Explain how trades connect reserve-based pool prices to outside markets without assuming an AMM automatically copies a price feed.
How constant-product pools price a swap
Work through constant-product swap output, input-side trading fees and the difference between quoted rate and reserve ratio.
How stable-swap pools handle correlated assets
Explain stable-swap pricing by comparing fixed-price and constant-product boundaries, with attention to imbalance and amplification.
How unequal pool weights affect swap prices
Use normalized reserves to understand the spot relationship in an unequal-weight pool and why raw balances alone can mislead.
Maker and taker roles beyond centralized exchanges
Understand liquidity creation and consumption roles in signed orders, RFQs and AMM-based swaps.
Order books vs AMMs: where executable prices come from
Compare discrete resting offers with reserve-based pricing and see how both can supply an aggregated token trade.
Order expiry vs cancellation: different end states
Distinguish an order becoming invalid with time from active cancellation, and understand why prior partial fills remain real.