Decentralized Finance has really taken the crypto space by storm with decentralized crypto exchanges like PancakeSwap and Uniswap exploding in terms and new users and daily trading volume.
Unlike centralized exchanges which use an order book to match sellers with buyers of crypto assets, decentralized exchanges use liquidity pools for each pair to be traded and allow the user to deposit a token into the pool to receive another from the pool.
Liquidity pools are not by any means perfect but they provide a decentralized way to trade cryptocurrencies without a middle (centralized) party.
One major problem encountered by users of decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and Pancakeswap is the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error which seems quite common as thousands of trading pairs are created on these exchanges daily with many users wanting to trade these tokens.
If you’re currently experiencing this error on either PancakeSwap or Uniswap, then this article will show you just how to fix it as well as some reasons why you could be experiencing it while trying to purchase or sell a token (or tokens) on decentralized exchanges.
What Does “Insufficient Liquidity For This Trade” on PancakeSwap & Uniswap Mean?
Before we show you how to fix the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error, you need to understand what the error means and why you might be seeing it when trying to swap a token for another on PancakeSwap or Uniswap.
As mentioned earlier, decentralized exchanges allow users to trade one token for the other using liquidity pools. Before a token can be traded on an exchange like PancakeSwap or Uniswap, the developer(s) must create a liquidity pool containing a specific amount of 2 different tokens eg (BNB and SafeMoon for the BNB/SafeMoon pair) and so on.
Once a user swaps one token for the other, the amount of the token which is swapped is added to the liquidity pool and the amount of the other token which is swapped is removed from the pool. Actions like this from multiple users determine the price of the token.
Now, the “Insufficient Liquidity for this trade” error simply means that there is not enough liquidity for the token you’re trying to swap.
Another major reason which causes this error is when you’re trying to swap a token on a different version of the exchange (PancakeSwap or Uniswap) when the token has not been migrated to that specific version.
For example, if you’re trying to swap a token that was added on the PancakeSwap v1 exchange on the PancakeSwap V2 exchange, you will get the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error” because there is no liquidity for that trading pair on the version of PancakeSwap you’re on. This also applies to Uniswap since they work identically.
How to Fix “Insufficient Liquidity For This Trade” on PancakeSwap & Uniswap
Now that you probably understand what the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error means, it is time to learn how to fix this problem.
Sadly, there is no direct solution for this error on either PancakeSwap or Uniswap because it can be caused by a variety of reasons, but below are some of the sure-fire ways to fix the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error.
Fix 1: Switch To An Older Version Of The Exchange
One of the best ways to fix the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error on PancakeSwap and Uniswap is simply by switching to an older version of the exchange where the token has some liquidity.
PancakeSwap currently uses the V2 version which is the latest version by default while Uniswap uses the V3 version as its default version. If you try swapping tokens launched on older versions of any of these exchanges on the new versions, you will get an error so switching back to an older version might solve the issue.
To switch from PancakeSwap V2 to V1, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Go to the PancakeSwap exchange website on [PancakeSwap.finance]
If you’re on Trust Wallet, navigate to the [DApps] tab and click on [PancakeSwap]. Can’t find the DApps browser on Trust Wallet? Check out our guide on how to enable the Trust Wallet DApps browser.
Step 2: Connect your Wallet with PancakeSwap
Click on [Connect Wallet] on PancakeSwap and tap on [Connect] to authorize connection on Trust Wallet.
Step 3: Switch from V2 to V1
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on [V1 (old)] to switch from PancakeSwap V2 to PancakeSwap V1.
On the dialog which pops up, tick [I understand that V1 ….] and on [Continue to V1 Anyway].
Step 4: Reconnect your Wallet
Click on [Unlock Wallet] and select your wallet. If you’re using Trust Wallet like we are, select [Trust Wallet] from the list of wallets, if not select your wallet from the list of available wallets.
Lastly, click on [Connect] to authorize the connection and process to try swapping the token on the V1 version on PancakeSwap.
To switch the versions on Uniswap, just add “?use=V2” at the end of the URL to switch to the V2 version or add “?use=V1” to switch to the V1 version.
Here are the full URLs for switching versions on Uniswap
- For V3, use the normal URL (https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap) since Uniswap uses V3 by default
- For Uniswap V2, use this URL – https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap?use=V2
- For Uniswap V1, use this URL – https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap?use=V1
After this, click on [Connect Wallet] and tap on [Connect] to authorize the connection.
Fix 2: Increase Slippage Tolerance
The second fix which works in many cases is to increase the slippage tolerance. So if changing the version of the exchange does not fix the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error, you can try increasing your slippage tolerance to >= 10%.
To increase slippage tolerance on PancakeSwap, follow the steps below.
Remember to switch back to the latest version of either PancakeSwap (V2) or Uniswap (V3).
Step 1: Go to the PancakeSwap exchange website [PancakeSwap.finance]
If you’re on Trust Wallet, you can use the DApps browser to access PancakeSwap. Also, click on [Connect Wallet] then authorize the connection request if PancakeSwap is not connected to your wallet already.
Step 2: Tap on the settings icon
Step 3: Change the slippage tolerance
Type in “12” in the “Slippage Tolerance” section to increase the slippage tolerance to 12%.
You will see an error saying “Your transaction may be frontrun”, ignore it and close the dialog by clicking on the “X” sign on the top right corner of the dialog.
After doing this, try swapping the token again and see if you will get the error. In most cases, the error should be gone on PancakeSwap and the transaction will go through.
If you’re using the Uniswap exchange, follow the guide below to increase your slippage tolerance.
Note: Also, don’t forget to switch back to the V3 version of Uniswap before doing this.
Step 1: Go to the Uniswap exchange page [https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap]
Click on [Connect Wallet] and authorize the connection if your wallet is not already connected to Uniswap.
Step 2: Tap on the settings icon
Step 3: Input your slippage tolerance
Type in “10” to increase your slippage tolerance to 10%.
Just like on PancakeSwap, you will also be shown a warning saying that “The transaction may be frontrun”, ignore it, and tap anywhere on the page to exit the dialog.
Try swapping your token again and the transaction should go through on Uniswap.
Fix 3: Change Your Network
In some cases, your internet connection might be the culprit causing the “insufficient liquidity for this trade” error on either PancakeSwap, so try to switch things up to see if it solves the problem.
If you’re connected to a WiFi network, switch to your mobile network and vice versa. If you’re on mobile with no access to a WiFi connection, you can try to switch to your second mobile network (for phones with multiple SIM cards) and try swapping the token on any of these exchanges.
Also, if you’re using a VPN connection, disable it and try to swap your tokens again. Many users have reported that this one solution fixed the error on their end after trying a plethora of other methods on their devices so this might also fix the error on your end.
Fix 4: Just Wait & Reach Out To The Token Devs
As funny as this might sound, just waiting for some minutes and trying it out again might solve the insufficient liquidity error on Pancakeswap and/or Uniswap.
If the market is crowded with many users adding and withdrawing from the liquidity pool of a token pair, errors might start to show up randomly (in rare cases though), and just waiting and trying to swap after some minutes might fix the problem.
You can also try reaching out to the developers of the token you want to swap to (or from) and report the error. Telegram, Reddit, and Twitter are the best methods to reach out to them since those platforms are where many token devs are most active.
The contact information of the devs of a token can be found on CoinMarketCap, BSCScan/EtherScan, and the token website itself.
Fix 5: Try Another Exchange
If none of these fixes seem to work on your end, you can switch up the exchanges and try again on those exchanges if they have the trading pair of the token you want to swap.
Some of the best alternatives to PancakeSwap for swapping tokens on the Binance Smart Chain are Bogged Finance, Biswap.org, DODO Exchange, Binance DEX, and more.
For Uniswap, some of the popular alternatives you can try out are 1NCH, TraderJoe, dYdX Exchange, SushiSwap, HoneySwap, and more.
Wrapping Up
That will be it for now. We hope that the fixes outlined in this article helped you solve the dreaded “Insufficient Liquidity For This Trade” error on PancakeSwap or Uniswap.
If you still experience this error even after trying every fix recommended in this article (which is highly unlikely by the way), then there is probably an issue with the token you want to purchase and it might have been rug pulled.
Sadly, there is no way to swap your coins back to BNB, ETH, or other cryptocurrencies if the project has been rug pulled by the developers.
Sure that the project has not been rug pulled but still seeing this error? Then, you can reach out to PancakeSwap via their Telegram community chat and subreddit (r/Pancakeswap). The official Discord chatroom for Uniswap is available here and you can reach out to them on Reddit via the r/Uniswap subreddit if you’re using Uniswap.
