DEXes · Review

Active

Nightshade Finance Review 2026: Order Book DEX on Alephium

Nightshade Finance is an order book DEX on the Alephium blockchain, launched in 2025. It offers an alternative to pool-based swaps, but liquidity is small and no audits are listed.

Alephium

By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated Nov 5, 2026

DappsAtlas score

5.5/10

Mixed

Visit Nightshade Finance

Our verdict on Nightshade Finance

5.5/10

Nightshade Finance suits Alephium users who want an order book exchange instead of pool-based swaps and who accept early-stage risk. Its main strength is the fully on-chain order book with Casual and Pro modes. The main caveat is size: TVL is around $54,000, no audits are listed, and fees and team details are not published. Start small and read the docs first.

Score breakdown

How Nightshade Finance scores

Security: 4.0/10
Ease of use: 6.5/10
Fees: n/a
Features: 6.0/10

Scores run from 0 to 10 and are based only on facts we could verify. Where information was missing we mark the score n/a rather than guess.

What is Nightshade Finance?

Nightshade Finance is a decentralized exchange built on Alephium. It describes itself as the first decentralized order book DEX on that chain, letting users buy and sell tokens through a fully on-chain order book.

The site offers swap and liquidity pages, a Creators section, analytics and docs. A Casual and Pro toggle suggests two levels of interface for different kinds of traders. The project was listed in tracking data in July 2025.

Scale is small. Tracked TVL is about $54,000, and it dropped about 17% in the last week. No audits are listed and the project has no token. The team and licensing are not published on the homepage.

How Nightshade Finance works

Most DEXs use automated market maker pools, where a formula sets prices from the balance of two tokens. Nightshade instead describes a fully on-chain order book. Buyers and sellers post orders at chosen prices, and trades happen when orders match.

The platform runs on Alephium, a sharded Proof-of-Work blockchain. Users connect a wallet, pick a token pair and trade directly from their own wallet, without a central party holding funds in an account.

The site also has a liquidity section and a Creators section, along with an analytics page showing volume and listed tokens. Specific mechanics for liquidity provision and creator tools are not detailed on the homepage.

6 features

Key features

On-chain order book

Orders are matched through a fully on-chain order book rather than only through automated liquidity pools, as the project describes it.

Casual and Pro modes

The interface has a Casual and a Pro toggle, aimed at both simple swaps and more detailed trading.

Token swaps

A swap page lets users buy and sell tokens listed on Alephium.

Liquidity section

A liquidity section is part of the main navigation for users who want to supply assets.

Creators area

A Creators section appears in the navigation, pointing to tools for token creators, though details are not published on the homepage.

Analytics and token metrics

The homepage shows TVL, total and weekly volume, tokens listed and a hot tokens table with price, market cap and 24h and 7d volume.

Pros and cons

What we like

Order book design gives an alternative to pool-based swaps on Alephium
Non-custodial trading from a user's own wallet
Casual and Pro modes cover both simple and advanced users
Built-in analytics showing volume, TVL and token metrics
Legal pages, Privacy Policy and Terms, are linked from the site

Watch out for

Very small TVL of roughly $54,000, so liquidity is thin and large trades may move prices a lot
TVL fell about 17% over the past seven days in the tracked data
No audits are listed, so smart-contract risk is not independently reduced
Runs only on Alephium, a smaller ecosystem with fewer users and assets than major chains
No native token, fee schedule, team or licence details are published on the homepage
Order book trading can be harder for beginners than a simple swap, and thin books mean wider spreads

Nightshade Finance fees

Nightshade does not publish a fee schedule on its homepage. Trading fees, if any, would be shown in the swap or trade interface and in the project docs.

Users also pay Alephium network gas on transactions. Order book trading can involve maker and taker fees on some platforms, but Nightshade's own rates are not stated.

Is Nightshade Finance safe?

No audits are listed for Nightshade Finance, so the smart contracts have no independent review on record. Users carry smart-contract risk, and a small TVL means a single bug or exploit could matter a lot.

Trading is non-custodial, so funds stay in the user's wallet except when committed to orders or liquidity. The project does not publish information on its team, licences or incident history on the homepage. Check local rules before trading, and only use funds you can afford to lose.

6 steps

How to get started with Nightshade Finance

1
Set up an Alephium-compatible wallet and fund it with ALPH for gas.
2
Open the Nightshade site and connect the wallet.
3
Choose Casual mode for simple swaps or Pro mode for order book trading.
4
Read the docs and check fees and token details before placing a first order.
5
Start with a small trade to confirm how pricing and slippage behave.
6
Review the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy linked in the footer.

Open Nightshade Finance

Who Nightshade Finance is for

Nightshade is for Alephium users and traders who prefer limit-style order book trading and are comfortable with a young, small, unaudited protocol. It is less suited to people who need deep liquidity, large trade sizes or audited contracts.

Nightshade Finance FAQs

What is Nightshade Finance?

Nightshade Finance is a decentralized exchange on Alephium that uses a fully on-chain order book. Users can swap tokens, provide liquidity and view analytics from the site.

Which blockchain does Nightshade use?

It runs on Alephium, a sharded Proof-of-Work blockchain. The project lists no other chains.

Is Nightshade Finance audited?

No audits are listed in the tracked data. Users should treat the contracts as unaudited unless the project publishes a report, and should only risk funds they can afford to lose.

Does Nightshade have a token?

No. The tracked data shows no token for the project, and the homepage does not mention one.

What are the Casual and Pro modes?

The homepage offers a Casual and a Pro mode, which suggests a simple swap view and a fuller trading view. Details of the differences are not spelled out in its homepage.

What does it cost to trade on Nightshade?

Fees are not stated on the homepage. Users should check the swap or trade screen and the docs before placing an order, and remember that Alephium network gas also applies.

Compare

Nightshade Finance alternatives

All alternatives

Uniswap V3

DEXes

Uniswap V3 is a non-custodial decentralized exchange protocol for token swaps and concentrated liquidity provision across 40+ chains.

TVL $1.52B−1.8%Ethereum · Base · Arbitrum +38

Uniswap V4

DEXes

Uniswap V4 is the latest Uniswap DEX version with hooks and concentrated liquidity, running on 22 chains for self-custody token swaps and liquidity provision.

TVL $1.18B+3.6%Ethereum · Robinhood Chain · Base +19

Uniswap V2

DEXes

Uniswap V2 is a non-custodial automated market maker DEX on 17 chains for token swaps and liquidity provision, with about $938M TVL.

TVL $870M−3.6%Ethereum · Base · Polygon +14

PancakeSwap AMM V3

DEXes

PancakeSwap AMM V3 is a multichain decentralized exchange using concentrated liquidity pools, for traders and liquidity providers, led by BNB Chain.

TVL $684M−1.3%BNB Chain · Ethereum · Base +8

Project X

DEXes

Project X is a DEX on Hyperliquid offering token swaps and liquidity provision with advertised 0% fees, aimed at DeFi users in that ecosystem.

TVL $35.3M−2.5%Hyperliquid L1

Fluid DEX

DEXes

Fluid DEX is the trading layer of Instadapp's Fluid protocol, where LP positions can also serve as collateral on a shared liquidity layer.

TVL $217M−2.6%Ethereum · Arbitrum · Base +2

Same category

More DEXes

DEXes rankings

Curve

DEXes

Curve is a decentralized exchange on Ethereum built for low-slippage swaps of stablecoins and similar assets, with CRV governance and a crvUSD stablecoin.

Ethereum