Mooniswap Crypto Exchange Review: Better Earnings for Liquidity Providers?
Liquidity Provider Earnings Calculator
Mooniswap offers liquidity providers 50% to 200% more earnings than Uniswap by capturing slippage that would normally go to arbitrageurs. Enter your current liquidity pool details to see potential gains.
Most crypto traders know Uniswap. But if youâre supplying liquidity to decentralized exchanges, you might be leaving money on the table. Thatâs where Mooniswap comes in - a lesser-known but smarter AMM built by the same team behind 1inch. Unlike Uniswap, Mooniswap doesnât let arbitrageurs steal profits from your liquidity pool. It keeps them for you.
How Mooniswap Works Differently
Mooniswap is not just another DeFi exchange. Itâs a fix for a problem most AMMs ignore: slippage leakage. When you trade on Uniswap, the price shifts slightly after your trade. Arbitrage bots jump in, snap up the better rate, and profit - while you, the liquidity provider, lose out. Mooniswap stops that. Hereâs how: instead of instantly updating prices after a trade, Mooniswap holds back the new rate for about five minutes. During that window, it creates "virtual balances" - fake numbers that make the pool look less profitable to bots. Arbitrageurs still trade, but they get worse prices. The profit that wouldâve gone to them? It stays in the pool. That means more fees for you. This idea didnât come out of nowhere. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin once floated the concept in a forum thread. Mooniswapâs team, led by Anton Bukov and Sergej Kunz, turned it into a working protocol. And it works. Simulations by the 1inch team show liquidity providers earn 50% to 200% more than on Uniswap V2, depending on the token pair and trading volume.Why Liquidity Providers Love It
If youâre staking ETH/DAI or WBTC/USDC on a DEX, your goal isnât just to earn fees. Itâs to earn more than you would elsewhere. Mooniswap delivers. Take a real example: you add $10,000 worth of ETH and USDT to a liquidity pool. On Uniswap, you might earn $120 in fees over a month. On Mooniswap, thanks to captured slippage, you could earn $180 to $300. Thatâs not speculation - itâs based on backtested data using actual trading patterns from 2020-2023. The platform also lets you earn from fee-sharing. Up to 5% of trading fees can be redirected to wallets or dApps that integrate with Mooniswap. If youâre a DeFi builder using Mooniswap in your app, you could get a cut. And the team has hinted that fees could drop to 0% in the future - meaning youâd earn even more from volume without paying anything extra.What You Need to Use It
You canât sign up for Mooniswap like you would for Binance. Itâs fully decentralized. That means:- You need an Ethereum wallet - MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or Rainbow work best.
- You need ETH to pay for gas fees. No ETH? No trades.
- You must understand smart contracts. Every swap is a transaction on-chain. If the network is congested, your trade might cost $20 in gas.
Downsides and Trade-offs
Mooniswap isnât perfect. The five-minute delay that helps liquidity providers hurts traders who want instant prices. If youâre a day trader trying to scalp small moves, you might get worse fills than on Uniswap or Curve. Also, liquidity is thinner. Mooniswap doesnât have the volume of Uniswap or SushiSwap. That means higher slippage on large trades. If youâre swapping $50,000 of a low-liquidity token, you might get a bad rate - even with the virtual balance system. And because itâs on Ethereum, youâre stuck with high gas fees during peak times. Thereâs no Layer 2 support yet. If youâre using tokens on Polygon or Arbitrum, youâll need to bridge them first - adding complexity and cost. Lastly, thereâs no customer support. No email, no live chat. If something goes wrong - a failed transaction, a wallet issue - youâre on your own. Thatâs normal for DeFi, but itâs still a barrier for newcomers.How It Compares to Uniswap and SushiSwap
| Feature | Mooniswap | Uniswap V2 | SushiSwap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit Model | Virtual balances capture slippage for LPs | Standard constant product formula | Same as Uniswap + SUSHI rewards |
| LP Earnings Potential | 50%-200% higher than Uniswap V2 | Baseline | Higher due to token rewards, but slippage still leaks |
| Trade Speed | 5-min delay on price updates | Instant | Instant |
| Fee Structure | 0.3% base, potentially 0% in future | 0.3% | 0.25% + SUSHI incentives |
| Integration | Part of 1inch aggregator | Standalone | Standalone |
| Network | Ethereum only | Ethereum only | Ethereum + multi-chain |
Who Should Use Mooniswap?
Mooniswap isnât for everyone. But itâs perfect for:- Liquidity providers who want to maximize returns without staking tokens or farming rewards.
- Traders who donât mind slight delays for better long-term pool health.
- DeFi users already using 1inch - Mooniswap is built into their aggregator.
- Those tired of seeing arbitrage bots profit while their LP positions barely break even.
The Bigger Picture: Where Mooniswap Fits in DeFi
Mooniswap launched in August 2020 - right as DeFi exploded. Back then, everyone was chasing yield. Uniswap was king. But Mooniswap offered something new: a way to make liquidity provision profitable again. Today, DeFi has changed. Layer 2s are here. New AMMs like Curve and Balancer offer specialized pools. But Mooniswapâs innovation still stands out. Itâs not about flashy interfaces or tokenomics. Itâs about fixing a broken economic model. The 1inch team hasnât abandoned it. Mooniswap is still actively maintained and integrated into their DEX aggregator. That means when you use 1inch to find the best swap rate, you might end up on Mooniswap - even if you didnât choose it. Thatâs a sign of confidence. Future updates could include Layer 2 support, lower fees, or even integration with other chains. But for now, its strength is simplicity: better economics, no gimmicks.Final Thoughts
Mooniswap doesnât try to be everything. It doesnât have a token to trade. It doesnât offer staking. It doesnât have a mobile app. But it does one thing better than anyone else: it gives liquidity providers a fairer share of the profits. If youâre supplying liquidity to a DEX and wondering why your returns are so low, Mooniswap might be your answer. Itâs not magic. Itâs math. And the math works. Try it with a small amount first. Compare your earnings over a month. You might be surprised how much you were leaving on the table.Is Mooniswap safe to use?
Yes, but only if you understand DeFi risks. Mooniswap is a smart contract on Ethereum. It hasnât been hacked, and its code is open-source and audited. But like all DeFi platforms, youâre responsible for your own funds. If you send tokens to the wrong address or lose your private key, thereâs no recovery. Always test with small amounts first.
Do I need to hold 1INCH tokens to use Mooniswap?
No. You can swap tokens or add liquidity without ever holding 1INCH. The 1INCH token is used for governance and fee-sharing in the broader 1inch ecosystem, but itâs not required to interact with Mooniswap. Your earnings come from trading fees, not token rewards.
Why is Mooniswap slower than Uniswap?
The five-minute delay isnât a bug - itâs the whole point. Mooniswap holds price updates to prevent arbitrage bots from instantly exploiting new rates. This lets liquidity providers capture that profit instead. For traders, it means slightly worse fills on fast-moving markets. For LPs, it means significantly higher earnings. Itâs a trade-off designed to protect the people funding the pool.
Can I use Mooniswap on mobile?
Yes, but not through a dedicated app. You use your mobile wallet - like MetaMask or Rainbow - to connect to the Mooniswap website. The interface works fine on mobile browsers. Just make sure youâre on the official site (mooniswap.exchange) to avoid scams.
What happens if the 1inch team stops maintaining Mooniswap?
The protocol will keep running. Mooniswap is a decentralized, on-chain smart contract. Once deployed, it doesnât need the team to keep it alive. Users can still swap tokens and add liquidity forever. The only thing that stops is updates - like new features or fee changes. But the core functionality will remain active as long as Ethereum does.
Vijay Kumar
November 28, 2025 AT 18:09Mooniswap? More like Moon-walk-swap. You think you're getting rich but you're just feeding the Ethereum gas monster. đ
Vance Ashby
November 30, 2025 AT 06:05Bro, I tried it. My $500 LP position made $8 in a week. On Uniswap? $6. So yeah, it works... but gas fees ate the rest. đ
Brian Bernfeld
December 1, 2025 AT 07:13Let me break this down for you like you're 12: Mooniswapâs virtual balances are basically a lie that benefits you. The bots think the pool is less profitable, so they trade at worse prices - and the difference? Thatâs YOUR extra fee. Itâs not magic, itâs math. And math wins. If youâre not using this as a LP, youâre leaving money on the table like a chump. đ
Ian Esche
December 2, 2025 AT 02:50USA invented crypto. This is just another foreigner trying to reinvent the wheel. Uniswapâs been around since 2018 - why are we listening to some 1inch side project? America first, liquidity second.
Felicia Sue Lynn
December 2, 2025 AT 08:10While I appreciate the economic innovation behind Mooniswap, I find myself questioning whether the trade-off of delayed price updates aligns with the broader ethos of decentralization. If users are forced to wait for fairer outcomes, are we not introducing a form of centralized control through protocol design? Itâs a paradox worth contemplating.
Christina Oneviane
December 2, 2025 AT 19:34Oh wow, another âsmartâ DeFi protocol thatâs just a fancy way of saying âwe stole your profits and called it innovation.â Next theyâll charge you for breathing while you hold LP tokens. đ
fanny adam
December 4, 2025 AT 03:11Did you know that the 1inch team has ties to a former Ethereum Foundation developer who was implicated in a 2021 MEV exploit? Mooniswapâs âvirtual balanceâ mechanism may be a front for stealthy front-running. The audit reports are incomplete. Trust no one. This is a honeypot.
Eddy Lust
December 4, 2025 AT 21:53Man, I love how this thing just quietly fixes what everyone else ignores. Like, nobody talks about how much slippage leaks out of Uniswap pools - itâs like a leaky faucet and everyoneâs just holding a bucket under it. Mooniswap? Itâs the plumber who shows up with a wrench and says âI got this.â No hype. No token. Just⌠works. đ
Casey Meehan
December 6, 2025 AT 01:56đ Mooniswap = đ¤ + đ¤ + đŤđ¸ (for bots) 𤯠Seriously, if you're not using this as a LP, you're doing DeFi wrong. 200% more fees? Sign me up. đ
Tom MacDermott
December 6, 2025 AT 05:21Oh wow, another âunderdogâ protocol thatâs only âbetterâ because itâs slower and less liquid. Congrats, you turned a trading platform into a waiting room. Iâd rather lose 50% in slippage than waste 5 minutes watching my trade sit in limbo. This isnât innovation - itâs punishment for speed.
Martin Doyle
December 7, 2025 AT 06:29Everyoneâs acting like this is some revolutionary breakthrough, but itâs just a tweak. And if youâre not on Layer 2, youâre already losing money on gas. Mooniswapâs 50-200% higher yield? Cool. But if your gas cost is $15 per trade, youâre still in the red. Wake up.
Susan Dugan
December 8, 2025 AT 13:29If youâre a LP and youâre not using Mooniswap, youâre basically volunteering to fund arbitrage bots. Itâs not even close - this is the most honest AMM out there. No token spam, no fake yields, just clean, smart fee capture. Iâve been using it for 8 months and my passive income finally outpaced my coffee habit. âđ¸
SARE Homes
December 8, 2025 AT 14:30Grace Zelda
December 9, 2025 AT 13:38Iâm curious - has anyone tested this on low-volume pairs? Like, what happens when you have a token with $50k in liquidity and a $10k trade? Does the virtual balance still work, or does it just make the slippage worse for the actual user? Iâm trying to understand the edge cases.
Sam Daily
December 10, 2025 AT 23:35Look, I used to think Uniswap was the gold standard. Then I tried Mooniswap with $2k in ETH/USDC. My monthly fees jumped from $14 to $38. I didnât change anything else. No staking, no farming - just switched pools. The math is real. If youâre a passive LP and youâre not using this, youâre literally leaving money on the table. Go try it with $50. Youâll thank me later. đ