© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.
Okay, look. Every other Raydium guide out there starts with some boring history lesson or hypes it as "Solana's savior" without telling you the real deal. They skip the part where you actually lose money if you don't watch for impermanent loss or pick the wrong pool. Or they pretend fees are always "basically free" - yeah, Solana's cheap, like ~0.000005 SOL per tx, but during a memecoin pump? Slippage eats you alive. I usually tell friends: don't jump in blind. Raydium's killer in 2026 because it's still the top dog for liquidity on Solana, blending AMM pools with OpenBook order book for tighter spreads. But it's not magic. You gotta know the pitfalls first.
The thing is, in 2026, with Solana hitting 65k+ TPS easy, Raydium's handling billions in volume. TVL's nuts - think over $1B easy now. But guides forget to say: 90% of newbies rug themselves by chasing unverified tokens. Why does this matter? One wrong swap, and your SOL's gone. Sound familiar? Let's fix that.
Phantom. That's your go to. Download it, set a strong password, back up your seed phrase on paper - not your phone. I always do this offline. Why? Hackers love screenshots.
Pro tip: If you're MetaMask die hard, use the Solana Snap extension now. It works, but honestly? Stick to Phantom. Smoother. In my experience, MetaMask glitches on big swaps.
Now you're set. No more excuses.
Swaps are dead simple. But here's where guides lie: they say "instant". Yeah, 1-2 seconds usually. But volatile pairs? Adjust slippage to 1-5% or you get rekt.
Go to Swap tab. Pick from token (SOL usually). To token - search or paste contract address for new memecoins. Enter amount. See the quote? That's your price impact. Under 0.5%? Green light.
Fees? 0.25% trading fee split to LPs, plus tiny Solana rent ~$0.0001. Pretty much free.
| Slippage Setting | When to Use | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | Stable pairs like USDC/USDT | Low - fails if price moves |
| 3% | Normal alts | Medium |
| 10%+ | Memecoins pumping | High - front runners love this |
Click Swap. Wallet pops up. Sign. Done. Check your balance.
But wait - potential issue: "Insufficient SOL for fees". Fix? Buy more SOL. Happens to everyone first time.
Okay, swaps are fun, but liquidity providing is how you earn. Add to a pool, get LP tokens, earn 0.22-0.25% of every trade in that pool. Fusion pools let you do single sided now - no balancing tokens.
I usually start with SOL USDC. Stable ish. Here's how:
To remove? Same page, pick your position, Remove Liquidity, enter percentage. Gets your tokens back + earned fees.
Impermanent loss though. Prices diverge? You lose vs just holding. Example: SOL pumps 2x, USDC same - your pool rebalances, you end up with less SOL gain. Solver? Pick correlated pairs or farms with high rewards to offset.
Why farm? RAY token's the juice. Stake single RAY too - menu > Staking > Stake RAY. Earn more RAY. Unstake same way, hit the "-" button.
In my experience, farm hot memecoin pools early. But exit fast - APYs crash when hype dies. What's next? Watch for AcceleRaytor launches - new tokens drop there first.
Not just swaps. Trading tab's your CEX killer. Serum/OpenBook integration means real order book.
Pick pair: SOL USDT. Set limit price, amount. Buy/Sell. Better execution than pure AMM. Fees same low.
Issue? Low liquidity pairs slip. Solution: Check depth first. Or use Jupiter aggregator if Raydium's thin - but Raydium's usually deepest.
Raydium's memecoin central in 2026. Pump.fun integrations mean new coins launch here. Paste contract, swap fast. But scams? Revoked mints, rugs. Check rugcheck.xyz first. I lost 0.5 SOL once - lesson learned.
Short para first. Transaction failed? Network congestion - rare on Solana now, but retry or up priority fee in Phantom advanced.
LP impermanent loss biting? Harvest rewards often, withdraw if divergence >10%.
Wallet drained? Phishing site. Always raydium.io only. Bookmark it.
Taxes? US folks, track every swap. Tools like Koinly integrate Phantom exports.
And high slippage on big trades? Split into smaller ones. Or use limit orders.
Okay, table time cuz numbers don't lie.
| DEX | Fees | Speed | Best For | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raydium | 0.25% + ~$0.0001 | <1s | LPs, farms, memecoins | IL risk |
| Jupiter | Variable low | <1s | Best routes | No native pools |
| Orca | 0.3% | <1s | Whales | Less pairs |
Raydium wins for all in one. Jupiter routes through it anyway.
Got RAY from farms? Stake it. Menu > Staking. Enter amount, Stake, Sign. Earns more RAY + governance. APR? 5-15% usually. Unstake anytime.
Personal touch: I stake half my RAY, farm with the rest. Balances risk.
No lists here. Just straight talk. Set custom slippage per trade - volatile? 5%. Stables? 0.1%. Use the Fair Price Indicator on swaps - green means good.
Fusion pools for single sided: Stake just SOL, earn fees without pairing. Game changer. And cross chain? Bridges like Wormhole work direct now - swap ETH to SOL assets easy.
Monitor via Dexscreener. Ties right into Raydium pools. Spot pumps early.
One more: Batch txns in Phantom for farms/harvests. Saves gas.
DeFi's wild. Smart contracts? Hacked before, but Raydium's audited heavy. Still, only risk what you can lose. No SOL left in wallet? Can't trade. Diversify pools. And 2026 regs? US might clamp memecoins - DYOR local rules.
Honestly? Start with $50. Scale up. You'll love it.
© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.