How to Use Raydium: Swapping and Providing Liquidity on Solana

Bottom line: connect a wallet, pick a token pair, and Raydium swaps it in seconds

Raydium is one of the most-used decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Solana. Using it is straightforward: connect a wallet such as Phantom, pick the token pair and amount you want to trade, and approve the transaction. Thanks to Solana's throughput, trades typically settle in seconds at low cost. Beyond trading, you can also deposit into pools as a liquidity provider to earn a share of trading fees.

What you need

• A Solana wallet (e.g. Phantom) with a small amount of SOL for gas
• The token you want to trade, or SOL/USDC to trade from

How to swap

1. Go to Raydium's official site and connect your wallet.
2. On the Swap screen, choose the token you're selling and the token you're buying.
3. Enter an amount — you'll see the estimated rate and slippage tolerance.
4. Review the details and approve the transaction in your wallet.
5. Confirmation typically arrives within seconds.

Standard-pool swap fees run around 0.25% (most of it going to liquidity providers, a smaller share to the protocol), while CLMM pools offer multiple fee tiers, commonly ranging from 0.01% to 1% depending on the pool.

Two ways to provide liquidity

• Standard AMM (equal-value pools) — deposit two tokens in equal value; you receive an LP token representing your share of the pool.
• CLMM (concentrated liquidity) — you choose a price range to concentrate your capital in, which can earn more fees per dollar while your price stays in range, but earns nothing once price moves outside it. Instead of an LP token, you receive a position NFT representing your specific range and liquidity. Raydium rolled out a CLMM upgrade in May 2026 adding features like in-pool limit orders and dynamic fees, according to reporting at the time.

Both approaches carry impermanent loss risk — the possibility that, because the ratio of the two deposited assets moves, your pooled position ends up worth less than if you'd simply held the tokens. Understand this trade-off before depositing funds you need.

Watch for fake token pools

Because anyone can create a new pool on Raydium, fake pools for worthless or fraudulent tokens can and do appear. Always verify a token's contract address against an official source (the project's own site or verified social account) before trading. See how to spot fake tokens and sites.

FAQ

How is Raydium different from Jupiter? Jupiter is an aggregator that routes your trade across multiple Solana DEXs (including Raydium) to find the best price. Raydium is one of the venues Jupiter routes through, and can also be used directly. Trading via Jupiter compares liquidity beyond just Raydium.

What slippage setting should I use? For liquid, major tokens, around 0.5% is common; smaller or more volatile tokens may need a higher tolerance. Setting it too low can cause failed trades.

Is providing liquidity beginner-friendly? It carries risks (like impermanent loss) that trading alone doesn't. Consider starting small with a Standard AMM pool on a major pair to understand the mechanics before trying CLMM.

Related articles

• Why swaps settle so fast → What Is Proof of History (PoH)?

Sources

• About Raydium | Raydium Docs (official)
• CLMM | Raydium Docs (official)
• How to Use Raydium: Solana Swaps & Liquidity (2026) — DEXTools