Aquarius Review 2026: Stellar's Liquidity Layer and AQUA Voting

Aquarius is an AMM protocol on the Stellar network. Its documentation calls it the liquidity layer of Stellar: a place where anyone can swap assets, provide liquidity and earn rewards, with AQUA holders voting on which markets those rewards go to.

The protocol runs its own Soroban smart-contract AMM, including concentrated liquidity pools. It also connects to Stellar's SDEX through a rewards programme. The AQUA token handles governance, voting, and locking into ICE, which boosts rewards.

The docs are written with developers in mind. They include official Python and TypeScript SDKs, a router contract, a backend API for path finding and pool data, and an option for integrators to charge a fee on swaps. The project lists community channels on Discord, Telegram and X, plus a GitHub organisation.

The material reviewed does not name the team, publish fee rates on its landing page, or give audit details beyond the existence of audit and bug bounty pages.

Aquarius is an automated market maker, or AMM. Instead of matching buyers and sellers in an order book, users trade against pools of two or more assets. Liquidity providers deposit assets into these pools and earn a share of trading fees. Prices move according to the pool's formula as the balance of assets changes.

What sets Aquarius apart is its voting layer. Holders lock AQUA into ICE tokens, which give voting weight and boost rewards. They use that weight to vote for markets, and AQUA emissions flow to the markets that receive votes. Projects that want deeper liquidity can add voting incentives or Pool Incentives to attract both votes and providers.

The docs also describe SDEX rewards, which cover Stellar's built-in exchange, alongside rewards for the Soroban AMM pools. Rewards are paid in cycles, so earnings depend on how votes and emissions are distributed in each cycle.

Aquarius does not publish a single fee schedule in the material reviewed. Providers are said to earn trading fees, AQUA rewards and pool incentives, so pool-level swap fees exist, but their rates are shown per pool in the app rather than on the docs landing page.

Integrators can charge their own fee on swaps routed through their integration, which adds a cost on top of pool fees when a wallet or app uses it. Stellar network transaction fees also apply to any on-chain action. Check the quoted fee and price impact in the swap interface before confirming.

Aquarius runs as smart contracts on Stellar's Soroban platform, so users keep control of their wallets and funds are exposed to contract risk rather than a custodian. Liquidity providers also face impermanent loss when pool asset prices diverge, and thin pools can produce high price impact on swaps.

The documentation has a Security section covering audits and bug bounties, but the material reviewed does not name the auditors, dates or findings, so read those pages before depositing large amounts. No incidents or regulatory actions appear in the material reviewed. The team behind the protocol is not named there, and it does not state any licence or regulatory registration.

Aquarius suits Stellar users who want to swap assets or earn from liquidity pools, AQUA holders who want to vote on emissions, and projects that need deeper liquidity for their assets. Developers building wallets, apps or bots on Stellar can also use its SDKs and API. Newcomers to DeFi should first learn how Stellar trustlines and AMM pools work.