Slippage: Market Movement
Slippage is the difference between the price you see when you click "Swap" and the actual price when the blockchain processes your transaction.
Why it happens: Crypto prices move fast. Between the moment you click "Swap" and the moment the blockchain processes it, the market price might have moved up or down.
The Setting: You can set a "Slippage Tolerance" (e.g., $1). This tells Rabby: "If the price moves by more than $1 while I'm waiting, cancel the trade so I don't get a bad deal."
Finding the Balance: Setting slippage too low can cause your trade to fail and waste gas fees, while setting it too high risks a loss in value from a bad price; Rabby automatically recommends a balanced slippage tolerance to help your trade succeed safely.
Price Impact: Trade Size
Price Impact is the price change caused directly by your own trade.
Why it happens: Every token has a "Liquidity Pool" (a reserve of tokens used for trading). If your trade is large compared to the total amount of tokens in that pool, you are effectively "emptying" the pool. The less of a token there is left in the pool, the higher the price becomes for your specific order.
Why do I see a "Price Impact" warning?
This warning is a protective safeguard, not a bug. Rabby displays this error when your specific trade is so large that it will cause a significant, immediate loss of value. This is meant to prevent you from losing 10%, 20%, or more of your funds the moment the swap occurs.
A common misunderstanding is thinking that adjusting Slippage settings can prevent or fix a Price Impact error.
Slippage is about the market moving while you wait.
Price Impact is about your trade being too big for the pool.
Increasing your slippage tolerance to "bypass" a Price Impact warning does not fix the underlying issue. Instead, it simply tells the wallet that you are willing to accept a much worse price, essentially guaranteeing that you will lose a large portion of your money to the trade.
Important: If you choose to bypass this warning and proceed with the swap, you do so at your own risk. By ignoring the safeguard, you acknowledge the potential for a substantial loss of value. Rabby Wallet is not liable for any financial losses resulting from trades executed despite high price impact warnings.
Correct Solutions when seeing a Price Impact Warning
Lower the Trade Amount: Try swapping a smaller amount. A smaller trade takes less from the pool and results in a much better price.
Identify "Unsellable" Tokens: If the impact remains high regardless of how small your trade is, the token lacks the liquidity needed to be sold safely. This is often a sign of a dead project or a "honeypot" scam where liquidity has been removed.