iZiSwap (Mode) Crypto Exchange Review: Zero Fees, Tiny Liquidity, and Real-World Trade Risks
When you hear "zero fees" and "zero slippage" in crypto, your ears perk up. Especially if you’ve paid $5 in gas to trade $20 worth of tokens on Uniswap last week. That’s why iZiSwap (Mode) caught attention - a decentralized exchange promising no trading fees and no price slippage, running on the Mode blockchain. Sounds too good to be true? It kind of is.
What Is iZiSwap (Mode)?
iZiSwap (Mode) is a decentralized exchange built on the Mode network, a Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution. It launched in 2022 as part of the iZUMi Finance ecosystem, which started in Japan in 2020. Unlike centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase, iZiSwap doesn’t hold your funds. You connect your wallet - MetaMask, Ledger, or WalletConnect - and trade directly from it. No KYC, no account creation, no middleman.
The platform’s big claim? Discretized liquidity. Instead of spreading your funds across a continuous price range like Uniswap V3, iZiSwap splits liquidity into fixed price intervals. The idea is to concentrate capital where trades happen most, reducing slippage. In theory, this should make small trades smoother and cheaper. In practice? It’s barely working.
Zero Fees? Yes. But There’s a Catch
iZiSwap charges 0.00% for both maker and taker fees. That’s rare. Most DEXs charge 0.1% to 0.3%. Even PancakeSwap, known for low fees, still takes 0.25%. This makes iZiSwap technically the cheapest DEX on the market right now.
But here’s the problem: low fees don’t matter if you can’t execute your trade. With only 4 supported tokens and 5 trading pairs, your options are extremely limited. You can swap between MODE, USDC, WETH, and WBTC - that’s it. No SHIB, no DOGE, no meme coins. If you’re not trading one of those four, you’re out of luck.
Compare that to Uniswap, which supports over 8,500 trading pairs, or PancakeSwap with 500+. iZiSwap has less than 0.1% of Uniswap’s selection. That’s not a niche - it’s a ghost town.
Trading Volume: Barely a Breeze
As of November 2023, iZiSwap’s 24-hour trading volume was $171.58. That’s not a typo. One hundred and seventy-one dollars and fifty-eight cents. In a single day.
That’s 0.000017% of Uniswap’s daily volume ($987 million) and less than 0.0001% of the entire DEX market’s $1.2 trillion annual volume in 2022. To put it in perspective: you could trade $171 worth of crypto on iZiSwap and still be the top trader of the day.
Why does this matter? Because slippage isn’t eliminated by the protocol - it’s eliminated by liquidity. If there’s only $200 in a trading pool, and you try to swap $50, you’re going to move the price hard. The zero-slippage claim only works when liquidity is deep. With $171 daily volume, it’s not.
Users on Reddit and SourceForge confirm this. One trader wrote: "Finding liquidity pools on Mode is like searching for needles in a haystack - only 5 pairs available and most have terrible spreads." Another said they couldn’t swap $100 without a 15% price impact.
Who Is This For? (Spoiler: Not You)
If you’re a retail trader looking to buy ETH or swap stablecoins - skip it. You’ll get better rates and deeper liquidity on Uniswap, SushiSwap, or even PancakeSwap.
iZiSwap (Mode) is built for one type of user: the DeFi experimenter. The kind who wants to test new liquidity models, deploy capital into experimental pools, or run code on Mode’s Layer 2. It’s a sandbox, not a marketplace.
Even then, the interface is clunky. FxVerify data shows users spend just over a minute per session and view only 2.46 pages before leaving. One user said it took them three hours to figure out how to add liquidity - compared to 15 minutes on Uniswap. The learning curve isn’t steep; it’s a cliff.
Security and Transparency: The Elephant in the Room
No one has audited iZiSwap publicly. Not CertiK. Not Hacken. Not even a basic third-party review. That’s a red flag. Leading DEXs like Uniswap and Curve have multiple public audits. iZiSwap doesn’t even have a public audit report.
And it’s not regulated. FxVerify confirmed: "This company does not appear to be regulated by any government authority." That’s normal for DEXs, but combined with minimal volume and no audits, it raises questions about long-term safety.
There’s also no mobile app. You need a browser. No iOS or Android support. That’s a dealbreaker for most users today, especially in emerging markets where mobile is the primary way people access crypto.
Who’s Using It? (And Why?)
Despite the low volume, iZiSwap gets about 65,802 monthly visits - 99% organic. That’s not nothing. People are finding it. But why?
Most visitors are likely developers, researchers, or crypto enthusiasts curious about discretized liquidity. A few might be trying to farm tokens from iZUMi’s ecosystem. But the bounce rate is 55%, and average session time is just over a minute. Most people come in, see the tiny pools, and leave.
There’s no institutional backing. No partnerships with wallets or DeFi protocols beyond basic MetaMask integration. No marketing. No roadmap. No announcements. It feels like a prototype someone forgot to finish.
Can You Make Money Here?
Maybe - if you’re a liquidity provider with deep pockets and a high risk tolerance. The zero-fee structure means you keep all the trading fees you earn. But you’re also on the hook for impermanent loss, and with such thin liquidity, that loss can be brutal.
One user reported losing 22% on a $500 liquidity position because the price moved just 3% - something that wouldn’t have mattered on a deep pool. The discretized model amplifies risk when liquidity is low.
For traders? Only if you’re swapping under $50 and don’t mind waiting for a 26.12% volume spike (which happens unpredictably). Even then, you’re gambling on whether the pool has enough depth to fill your order.
Bottom Line: A Cool Idea, a Broken Reality
iZiSwap (Mode) has a brilliant idea: discretized liquidity with zero slippage and zero fees. It’s technically impressive. But execution is broken. Without liquidity, the best protocol in the world is useless.
Think of it like a Ferrari with no fuel. The engine is amazing. But if you can’t fill the tank, you’re not going anywhere.
Right now, iZiSwap (Mode) is a research project, not a trading platform. If you’re a developer, a DeFi academic, or someone who wants to experiment with novel liquidity models - go ahead. Play around. But don’t trade your life savings here.
For everyone else? Stick with Uniswap, PancakeSwap, or Curve. They’re not perfect. But they have liquidity. They have audits. They have users. And most importantly - they actually work.
Is iZiSwap (Mode) safe to use?
iZiSwap is non-custodial, so your funds stay in your wallet - that’s good. But there are no public audits from CertiK, Hacken, or other trusted firms. No regulatory oversight either. It’s as safe as any unregulated DEX, but the lack of transparency and minimal volume increases risk. Only use it for small, experimental trades.
Can I trade any crypto on iZiSwap (Mode)?
No. Only four tokens are supported: MODE, USDC, WETH, and WBTC. That’s five trading pairs total. You can’t trade meme coins, altcoins, or newer tokens. If your asset isn’t one of those four, you can’t swap it here.
Why is the trading volume so low?
Because very few people are providing liquidity. The platform doesn’t offer strong incentives for LPs, and the interface is hard to use. Without deep pools, traders avoid it - creating a vicious cycle. Volume is stuck at around $170 per day, which is less than what a single large trade on Uniswap moves.
Does iZiSwap (Mode) have a mobile app?
No. There’s no official iOS or Android app. You can access it through a mobile browser, but the experience is clunky and not optimized. Most users prefer platforms like PancakeSwap or Trust Wallet that offer smooth mobile access.
Is iZiSwap (Mode) better than Uniswap?
Only if you’re doing research on liquidity models. For actual trading? No. Uniswap has 100x more liquidity, 1,700x more trading pairs, and public audits. iZiSwap’s zero fees and zero-slippage claims are theoretical - they don’t work in practice with such thin pools. Uniswap is faster, safer, and more reliable.
Should I add liquidity to iZiSwap (Mode)?
Only if you’re willing to risk losing money for the sake of experimentation. The discretized liquidity model can amplify impermanent loss when pools are shallow. With only $170 in daily volume, your funds could sit idle for weeks. You’ll earn zero fees because no one’s trading. It’s a high-risk, low-reward play.
What’s the future of iZiSwap (Mode)?
Right now, it’s on life support. To survive, it needs at least a 100x increase in volume and liquidity. That means either a major incentive program for LPs, a partnership with a big wallet or DeFi protocol, or a surge in adoption of the Mode network. None of that has happened. Without a clear roadmap or marketing, it’s likely to fade into obscurity.
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Denise Paiva
January 5, 2026 AT 13:24And calling it 'discretized liquidity' just makes the failure sound academic. It's not a model-it's a mistake dressed up in jargon.