You open your wallet, check your tokens, hit “Swap,” and… bam. A flood of uncertainty:
Why is this the default route?What’s this slippage thing again?Am I being front-run?Is this even the best deal?
Most users don’t ask all that. They just hit “Confirm” and hope for the best. But that’s the problem — token swaps today are designed less like financial tools and more like slot machines.
Instead of reinforcing trust, the interface trains you to gamble:
Real-time fluctuating quotes give a sense of urgency.Flashy confirmations create an illusion of control.Advanced settings are buried or barely explained.
Swapping isn’t inherently dark — the design makes it that way.
Why It Feels Like a Trap
The UI rarely explains why a particular swap route is chosen.Terms like “routing through aggregator” or “split liquidity” pop up without context.Swaps default to “fastest” or “best” without showing what best means (lowest fee? highest return? fewest hops?).
It’s not a lack of functionality — it’s a lack of framing.
A Clearer, Fairer Swap Experience
Explain the Route, Not Just the Outcome
A step-by-step view of how your swap is being routed (with estimated hop costs and time) brings users back into the loop.Surface Intent-Based Settings
Instead of just “max slippage,” ask users: “Do you prioritize speed, cost, or reliability?” Let the system adjust technical knobs for them.Audit Mode On-Demand
For the advanced crowd, let users peek into MEV exposure, spread, and routing logic. A single button: “Show Me the Math.”Remove the Illusion of Real-Time Luck
Quotes should refresh responsibly, not in a flashy, game-like blur. Less FOMO, more control.
Token swaps aren’t just backend logic with a frontend button. They’re where trust and intention converge.
Right now, the design defaults to ambiguity.
But when money’s involved, clarity isn’t just UX — it’s ethics.
Token Swaps: Dark Patterns by Design? was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.