Decentralized trading is an exciting and powerful new way to trade digital assets. Things work a bit differently than centralized platforms though, so we’ve put together this guide to help you get started trading the decentralized world with Slingshot
Slingshot combines the performance and ease of use of centralized trading platforms with the openness and transparency of decentralized exchanges to create the world’s most powerful Web3 trading platform.
Slingshot is built on web3, meaning instead of signing up for an account and giving away sensitive personal information, you can simply connect your wallet to the Slingshot app and start trading right away.
This also means that as a user you maintain full control over your assets, at all times!
Instead of listing assets one-by-one, Slingshot works like a search engine. If a token exists with on-chain liquidity (on a Slingshot-supported liquidity zone), our engine will index it and make it available to trade. On top of that, we aggregate liquidity across all top DEXs so that you always get the best price possible.
Slingshot is currently available on the Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Binance BNB liquidity zones.
Slingshot runs blockchain nodes for each liquidity zone we support. The on-chain transaction data from these nodes means that we can show you live trading data, without relying on 3rd-party providers. With a price chart and trade logs for any token, Slingshot’s trading interface gives you insights into the market’s activity in real-time.
Slingshot's initial launch was on the Polygon network, an Ethereum sidechain scaling solution. With blazing-fast transactions and low fees, Polygon experienced rapid growth as Ethereum Mainnet became too expensive for most retail traders due to high network traffic. The implications of a sidechain for users are:
Transactions are settled with the sidechain's native token, MATIC.
They are viewed as less secure because security is not directly derived from Ethereum
Slingshot expanded in November 2021 to Arbitrum, an Ethereum Layer 2 which utilizes optimistic rollups. Rollups are solutions that perform transaction execution outside Ethereum Mainnet (Layer 1), but post transaction data on Layer 1. This allows for faster and cheaper transactions than Ethereum Mainnet, without sacrificing the security Mainnet has to offer. Transactions on Arbitrum use ETH as its native token for gas fees.
In December 2021, Slingshot expanded to Optimism, an Ethereum Layer 2 optimistic rollup, like Arbitrum. Optimism also uses ETH as its native token for gas fees. The difference between Arbitrum and Optimism comes down to how disputes are handled in the rollup technology.
Slingshot launched on Binance’s BNB Chain (formerly known as BSC) in April 2022.
BNB is designed to maximize transaction volume and lower transaction costs, and in 2021 became a popular alternative to the Ethereum network. As a standalone chain separate from Ethereum, BNB Chain has its own native token, BNB.
Liquidity zones can be switched from the token trading page. Click on the liquidity zone at the top right to reveal a liquidity zone selection menu. If the token you are viewing has liquidity on another liquidity zone, you will be able to switch to that liquidity to trade.
Note that if the token you are viewing does not have liquidity on a given liquidity zone then it will say that the token is unavailable on that liquidity zone.
After you have successfully connected your wallet and deposited an initial set of funds to the Slingshot-supported network of your choice, you are ready to trade. Slingshot lists and offers the ability to trade any token that currently has liquidity in a given liquidity zone.
The swap widget to place a trade is found on the right of the trading page screen.
The first token listed is the token you are are trading and whose chart is displayed on the trading page by default. There are several ways to change the trading token:
Click on the token in the swap widget for a pop-up menu of all available tokens
Use the search bar at the top of the page to directly search for the token you’d like to trade
If you aren’t sure what you’d like to trade, navigate to the Markets page, at the top right. There, you can explore tokens in each Slingshot-supported liquidity zone and view data such as price, 24 hour change, and 24 hour volume.
When choosing tokens using the swap widget, a pop-up menu will show the selection of tokens available on the liquidity zone you are currently on. Tokens you have in your wallet will be prioritized, and their balances are shown on the right. You can also switch liquidity zones from this pop up, using the drop-down on the right side of the search bar.
At this time, trading tokens between different liquidity zones is not available.
After choosing the tokens you are trading, input the amount you would like to swap. Enter the value into the swap widget for the trading token and Slingshot will calculate the amount of the second toke you will receive. This quote will be valid for ~10 seconds before it is refreshed based on the latest market data.
The swap widget also shows the amount of the trading token available in your connected wallet. Click on the available balance to set your trade amount to all your holdings of the token.
If your wallet has fewer funds than the amount you entered to trade, the swap widget will display “INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS” and “Order Error”; you will not be able to continue with the swap until the amount is adjusted.
Click Review Order to go to the Order Summary window, which summarizes the details of your order and allow you to adjust Execution Speed gas fees and the Maximum Slippage you are willing to accept for your trade.
Click “Place Order” to send a request to your connected wallet to authorize the transaction. If your wallet is not connected to the correct liquidity zone for the trade, the site will ask for permission to switch the network. Once the transaction has been authorized on your wallet, the order will be placed into the network and you will be notified with the complete order details as soon as the order is successfully filled.
The Portfolio page gives a summary of your connected wallet’s trading activity, on Slingshot-supported networks. The trade widget is present on the right side of the Portfolio page at all times, allowing easy trading while looking at your portfolio.
Once you navigate to your portfolio, you will see a chart of your total portfolio value over time. The chart can be adjusted to see portfolio performance over the past day, week, month, or year.
Under the chart is a list of token holdings in your wallet, across all Slingshot-supported networks. It shows the current price of each token, your wallet balance, and the value of the balance.
Under the wallet balances is a breakdown of your portfolio by network. It shows the $USD value and how many tokens you have on each network. If you click on a network, a pop-up shows you exactly which tokens you have and what their balances/values are.
The final pane in Portfolio is Recent Activity, which shows the order history of your connected wallet.
Connecting your wallet on Slingshot not only allows you to trade but also unlocks social features via Web3 sign-in.
The Token Chat Box allows users to chat with other members on the platform about trading. Beyond chatting, tokens and trades can be shared in the chatbox. Use the shorthand $TOKEN to link to a specified token in your chat message. The option to share your trade in chat is given in the confirmation pop-up after a trade is completed.
Chatbox can be minimized, if desired.
When you first connect your wallet, you will be prompted to enter a name, which will be your display name in the global chat box. The display name needs to be at least four alphanumeric characters long. After setting a display name, you will not be able to change it for the first 24 hours, so choose wisely. Additionally, you can choose your display name color between red (bearish), white (neutral), or green (bullish).
Every user is given a unique modular identicon for your avatar by default. This avatar can be changed to an NFT by going to account menu → Edit Profile → Change Avatar, or by clicking your profile pic from the chatbox → Change Avatar.
If there is a supported NFT in your connected wallet, it will show up in the selection pop-up. If you hold your NFTs in a different wallet than what you use for trading you can also link your NFT wallet under the Change Avatar selection menu.
There are 3 ways to set your avatar to an NFT:
**Slingshot 2099** is an NFT avatar composed of 4 mix-and-matchable NFT parts: helmet, torso, legs, and backdrop. All users can set their chat avatar to the default 2099 suit, pictured below. To customize your Slingshot 2099, buy items in Slingshot’s 2099 marketplace.
Slingshot currently supports the NFTs on Ethereum listed below (support for others coming soon). To use one of these as your avatar, the wallet holding your NFT must be connected to Slingshot chat.
The final to display an NFT profile picture is by purchasing 100 PENG4815 tokens. With at least 100 PENG4815 tokens in your connected wallet, you unlock the Pudgy Penguin shown below, which is a Slingshot-owned, tokenized NFT.
https://assets.slingshot.finance/icons/matic_0x69377cc6f2929bd19039e88a54103fbc10bc4fa9
Buy items
To customize your Slingshot avatar, you will need to purchase items from the marketplace. To do so, go to the 2099 NFT marketplace by selecting “2099” at the top right of the Slingshot app, then navigate to the “Buy Items” tab.
Use the “Slot” dropdown to choose the type of NFT item you’d like to purchase. Alternatively, you can buy unopened packs being sold by users who minted them in the initial Jan 25 distribution. Note that when buying a pack, there is no way to know what items will be inside, so you can’t guarantee you will obtain the items you want. But you might find something rare!
Items for sale on the marketplace can be sorted by recency, price (ascending or descending), rarity (ascending or descending). The marketplace also has a preview feature that allows you to equip any items to your avatar before buying.
** Sell items**
All Slingshot NFT items you own are displayed in the “Sell Items” tab. Both sealed packs and individual items can be sold on the marketplace. To sell an NFT, click on the item you want to sell and pay a small gas fee (a fraction of a MATIC) to unlock it, which authorizes the item to be listed on the marketplace. After you have unlocked your NFT, you can set the list price of the item as you wish.
Cancel/Update listing If you want to make an update to your listing price or decide not to sell the item, click on the listed item in the “Sell Items” tab and select to either cancel or update the listing. You will need to confirm the update via your connected wallet before the change will go live.
Order History
The “History” tab displays all your buy and sell orders from the NFT marketplace. It includes all items and packs you bought and sold.
Like other NFT projects, some items in Slingshot 2099 are more rare than others. The total number of each identical item is displayed on the Slingshot NFT marketplace when buying or selling items. For example below, the green coat on the right is rarer than the black shirt on the left (134 green coats vs. 298 black shirts). Rarities range from as few as 9 to as many as 865 identical items. A list of all available items and their rarities is here.
To change your avatar’s configuration, navigate to the “Wardrobe” tab. Select “Open Wardrobe” to view a pop-up that displays your avatar and all items you own.
The small grey boxes next to each item icon indicate how many total pieces you have. In the image below, the user has 5 helmets, 5 torsos, 5 legs, and 0 backdrops. To change your outfit, click on the large icon of the slot you want to change. This will enlarge the corresponding small grey boxes to show you the other pieces you have for that slot. Once satisfied with your outfit, be sure to click the save bottom at the bottom of the popup.
You can download an image of your Slingshot avatar, either full-body or just a PFP (profile picture) headshot, to set as your profile picture in other applications.
If you were airdropped a pack and have not yet claimed it, you will see an animated notification next to your account menu on the top right of the screen. Clicking the animation allows you to claim your pack via your connected wallet. Your wallet must be set to the Polygon network in order to claim your pack.
Similarly, if you own a sealed pack, there will also be an animated notification next to your account menu. Click the animation and select to open your pack to reveal the NFT items inside.
In order to customize and save your avatar, make sure your wallet is set to the Polygon Network and you are signed in to Slingshot chat.