How to swap on Optimism

Swapping on Optimism (OΞ) is just like swapping on Layer 1 Ethereum, except gas fees are significantly lower and your transactions will confirm instantly!

1. First, select the tokens you wish to swap. There are a limited number of assets available on OΞ at launch, but the list will grow automatically as more projects bridge their token to the network.

   

    

2. Enter the desired input or output amount and review the quoted price. If this is your first time swapping the token on the Uniswap protocol on OΞ, then you’ll need to approve the token in order to trade it. This is a one-time action that enables the Uniswap protocol smart contracts to swap your token.

   

    

3. Press submit and review your quoted price, route, and slippage. Note that your trade will only use Uniswap v3 liquidity pools on OΞ -- it will not use Layer 1 liquidity even if a better price is available on Layer 1. You can view liquidity distribution and trade volume on OΞ pairs at info.uniswap.com/optimism/.

   

    

4. When you're ready, click confirm swap and watch the OΞ network confirm your swap within seconds!

Once submitted, you can view the details of your transaction at optimistic.etherscan.io, including the final token amounts and gas fees.

Compared to L1, your swaps on Optimism should be nearly instant and cost significantly less gas fees.

Please note that the Uniswap app on OΞ does not route trades through the L1 Uniswap liquidity pools — even if L1 offers a better price. At the outset of the OΞ launch, we expect L1 to continue to offer better exchange rates across many trade sizes as liquidity continues to migrate over to L2. We recommend that you compare exchange rates across L1 and L2 before executing trades.