All you need to know about Orca, Solana's largest DEX

What is Orca - the largest decentralized exchange on Solana Blockchain

Orca is a token swapping platform hosted on Solana that also allows users to earn trading commissions on the platform. It is swift and low cost and has gained immense popularity since its launch. As per statistics, it can process ten thousand transactions every second. Orca works similarly to Sushiswap and Uniswap. Traders invest in liquidity pools for trading pairs.

In return, traders are provided with tokens after deducting a predetermined amount of the trading fee. As it follows the AMM (Automated Market Maker) model, the crypto swapping prices are automatically set based on the ratio of the supplied tokens. However, this model cannot accommodate swapping with tokens having the same value. Therefore, Orca also has a stable swap feature for tokens with the same value. It used the Curve Finance stablecoin decentralized exchange that keeps the slippage at bay.

Orca hosts its collection of NFTs with unique names based on the marine ecosystem like Clownfish, Whale, Starfish, Guppy, etc. For the ease of the readers, NFTs are non-fungible tokens that give users the right to their digital assets and protect them from being replicated without the user's knowledge.

Currently, ORCA has more than 400 million dollars worth of liquidity. It is already the most used application on Solana.

The Orca Token

The Orca token is also known as Orca. It was launched in 2021. It is used for voting on proposals on how to spend the DAO treasury. It has a trade fee of 0.3%, which has the following breakup:

• 0.25% for the liquidity providers
• 0.04% for the DAO treasury, and
• 0.01% for the Orca Impact Fund

The Orca Impact Fund is a unique initiative the developers undertake to contribute their bit to fighting climate change. 

The token's value depends on the number of transactions processed by the Decentralised Application and the value held by Orca’s smart contracts. Indirectly it depends on the Solana blockchain, as with the rise in the value and importance of the blockchain, the token’s value also rises.

Why did Orca choose Solana?

Due to its high transaction speed, low transaction costs, and convenient block timings, Solana is among the best in the blockchain ecosystem. The team’s vision and dedication were other reasons that Orca chose Solana as its blockchain ecosystem.

How to get started with Orca?

Users can follow the given steps to get started with Orca:

Step 1: Purchase Solana native tokens, i.e., SOL. Compare the prices across different exchange platforms before purchasing the tokens.

Step 2: After purchasing SOL, you need to have a wallet. You can choose from the following curated options:

• Phantom
• Sollet.io
• Coin98 extension
• Math Wallet
• Solflare

Step 3: Define your SOL address.

Step 4: Transfer SOL to your wallet.

Step 5: Choose the source token and the destination token.

Step 6: Cross-check the price change and click on confirm to ensure a successful swap. 

Key features of Orca Solana

• Low transaction cost and high transaction speed
• Negligible slippage close to 1%
• Multiple options (19 token pairs) to maximize profit
• Justified price indication
• Option to fund in whirlpools

Whirlpools are special liquidity pools that allow traders to compete for trading fees. When liquidity is provided via a whirlpool, the user can set the price range for supplying the liquidity. If the price of a token in the trading pair rises or falls above or below the given range, the user will not be charged any trading fees. However, you can claim your rewards when it reaches the set range. This unique feature of Orca makes it convenient for users to invest in liquidity pools with the assurance that their money is secure.