Using LumosCore
Swaps
Trading assets on Stellar: routing, price, slippage and what you approve before signing.
A swap exchanges one asset for another in a single Stellar transaction. LumosCore builds it, shows you what you will receive, and hands it to your wallet to sign. The trade settles on the ledger in a few seconds.
#Making a swap
- Open Trade and pick the asset you are selling and the one you are buying.
- Enter an amount. The quote updates as you type, and shows the rate, the price impact and the fee.
- Review the summary. This is the last screen before signing — check the receive amount and the issuer of the asset you are buying.
- Approve in your wallet. The transaction is submitted and confirmed on the ledger.
#How the price is found
Stellar has two independent sources of liquidity, and a swap can use either:
- The order book. Stellar has a native on-chain order book. If someone has a resting offer at a better price, your trade takes it.
- Liquidity pools. Constant-product pools that quote a price from their reserves. These charge their own 0.3%, which goes to the pool's liquidity providers.
The quote you see is drawn from executed on-chain trades rather than an off-chain price feed, so it reflects what the market actually did, not what a data provider says it should have done.
Thin markets move
Stellar carries assets of every size. On a small pair, a modest order can move the price noticeably — that is price impact, not a fee, and it is shown before you sign. If it looks wrong, trade a smaller amount and watch how it changes.
#Slippage
Between building a transaction and its inclusion in a ledger, the price can move. Slippage tolerance is the worst rate you are willing to accept: if the market moves past it, the transaction fails rather than filling at a price you did not agree to.
A failed swap still costs the network fee, but your assets are untouched. On a volatile or thin pair, a slightly wider tolerance trades a worse worst-case price for a better chance of filling.
#What it costs
LumosCore charges 0.2% of the traded amount, or 0.1% if you hold 250,000 LUMOS or more — see Fees. On top of that sit the Stellar network fee, which is a fraction of a cent, and the pool's own 0.3% if your trade routes through a pool rather than the order book.
#Before you trade something unfamiliar
Check the issuer. A ticker on Stellar is not unique and cannot be trusted on its own — several hundred different assets call themselves USDC. Assets that have passed the domain handshake carry a mark; that mark tells you the asset is who it claims to be, and nothing about whether it is a good investment.
If you cannot buy an asset at all, you probably need a trustline for it first.
Last updated 29 August 2026