Your first swap

A swap trades one token for another. It's the simplest thing you can do on BarkSwap and a good way to get comfortable. This walkthrough assumes you've already set up your wallet and have a little testnet DOGE.

Step by step

• Open barkswap.fi and go to Swap.
• Pick the token you're paying with in the top box ("You pay") and the token you want in the bottom box ("You receive").
• Type an amount. BarkSwap instantly shows the estimated amount you'll get and the price.
• The first time you spend a given token, you'll approve it — a one-time permission so the app can move that token on your behalf. Confirm it in your wallet.
• Click Swap, review the details, and confirm the transaction in your wallet.
• Wait a few seconds for it to confirm. Your new token balance updates automatically.

That's a swap. Want the details behind each setting? See the full Swap guide.

Things you'll see (and what they mean)

• Price impact — how much your trade moves the price. Small trades barely move it; large trades in a shallow pool move it more. A high number is a warning that you'll get a worse rate.
• Slippage tolerance — the most the price is allowed to move between quoting and executing before the swap cancels itself. A small buffer protects you; too small and the swap may fail in a fast market.
• Network fee (gas) — the small DOGE cost to process the transaction, paid to the network, not to BarkSwap.
• Minimum received — the worst-case amount you'll accept, given your slippage setting.

Why two confirmations the first time?

The first time you swap a token, you sign two things: an approval (one-time permission for that token) and then the swap itself. After that, only the swap. This is normal across every DEX.

What just happened under the hood?

Your tokens went into a liquidity pool — a shared pot of two tokens supplied by other users (the liquidity providers). You took some of one token out and put some of the other in, and you paid a small fee for the privilege. That fee is exactly what makes providing liquidity worthwhile — which is the next thing you might want to try.

→ Provide liquidity to start earning from swaps like the one you just made.