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Poolside Review 2026: An AMM Built for LST Liquidity

Poolside is an AMM built for liquid staking tokens and other yield-bearing assets, using a mechanism called Reservoirs to protect LPs from losing yield. It is an interesting niche design, but liquidity is very small.

By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated Nov 4, 2026

DappsAtlas score

6.0/10

Mixed

Visit Poolside

Our verdict on Poolside

6.0/10

Poolside suits DeFi users who hold liquid staking tokens or other yield-bearing assets and want to provide liquidity without giving up the yield. Its main strength is a purpose-built design with single-sided liquidity and two cited audits. The main caveat is size: TVL is only about $35,000, the mechanism has a short track record, and fees are not published publicly. Treat it as an experimental niche protocol and start small.

Score breakdown

How Poolside scores

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

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 Poolside?

Poolside is a decentralized exchange built for rebasing and value-accruing tokens, including liquid staking tokens, lending protocol tokens, elastic commodities, vault shares and real-world assets. DefiLlama lists it in the DEX category, on Ethereum, Base, Avalanche and Arbitrum, and has tracked it since October 2023.

Its pitch is that standard AMMs make LPs lose the yield these assets earn. Poolside uses a mechanism it calls Reservoirs to avoid that, and supports single-sided liquidity.

The protocol is small. DefiLlama shows about $35,000 in TVL, up 2.7% over seven days, and no native token. The homepage cites audits by Statemind and CertiK, and the roadmap shows the whitepaper, audit and Ethereum mainnet launch as done, with the L1 and L2 rollout in progress.

How Poolside works

A normal AMM holds two tokens in a pool and rebalances them as traders swap. With rebasing or value-accruing tokens, such as liquid staking tokens, that rebalancing can cause LPs to lose the staking rewards or yield those tokens earn. Poolside describes this as permanent loss of yield.

Poolside uses what it calls Reservoirs to avoid this. Based on the homepage description, the design lets liquidity sit against reservoirs so that trades and exits do not disturb the assets locked in the underlying protocol. It also allows single-sided liquidity provision. The exact math is in the whitepaper, which the project does not detail.

The project says deeper liquidity helps the stability of LST and lending protocols, since validator returns, interest rates and capital efficiency are less affected by users entering and leaving positions. The site says it is built on Buttonwood.

6 features

Key features

Reservoirs mechanism

A mechanism that the project says removes the permanent loss of staking rewards and yield that LPs suffer on other AMMs.

Single-sided liquidity

LPs can add liquidity on one side against various reservoirs, which the project says preserves capital efficiency across pairs.

Yield-bearing asset focus

Designed for liquid staking tokens, elastic commodities, vault shares and real-world assets.

Protocol-neutral trading

Users can enter and exit positions without affecting the assets locked in a liquid staking, lending or RWA protocol.

Multi-chain presence

DefiLlama lists Ethereum, Base, Avalanche and Arbitrum deployments.

Audits and whitepaper

The homepage cites audits by Statemind and CertiK, and the whitepaper is published.

Pros and cons

What we like

Targets a real LP problem: losing staking yield on rebasing and value-accruing tokens.
Single-sided liquidity can lower the barrier to providing liquidity.
Audits by Statemind and CertiK are cited, and DefiLlama lists two audits.
Live on four networks: Ethereum, Base, Avalanche and Arbitrum.
No native token, so no token incentive dynamics to evaluate.

Watch out for

Very small TVL (about $35,000 per DefiLlama), so liquidity is shallow and large trades may face heavy price impact.
Narrow focus on LSTs and yield-bearing tokens limits its usefulness for general trading.
The Reservoirs mechanism is novel and has less track record than established AMM designs.
No native token or published fee schedule, so costs are hard to assess before using it.
The roadmap lists the L1 and L2 rollout as in progress, so deployments may still change.
Two audits are listed, but audits do not rule out smart-contract bugs.

Poolside fees

Swap fees and LP fee rates are not published. Users would see current fees in the Poolside app when they preview a swap or add liquidity, and in the documentation.

As with any on-chain protocol, network gas fees apply on whichever chain you use. Poolside has no native token according to DefiLlama, so there are no token-related fee mechanics to consider.

Is Poolside safe?

The homepage says the contracts were peer-reviewed and audited by Statemind and CertiK, and DefiLlama lists two audits. The project does not include audit dates, findings or any incident history, so readers should check the reports and the docs.

Poolside is a non-custodial DEX, so you keep your tokens in your wallet except when providing liquidity. Risks include smart-contract bugs, the untested nature of the Reservoirs design, thin liquidity and the risks of the underlying LST or yield-bearing assets. This is not financial advice.

6 steps

How to get started with Poolside

1
Read the whitepaper and docs to understand how Reservoirs work before depositing.
2
Pick a supported network (Ethereum, Base, Avalanche or Arbitrum) and fund a wallet with the assets and gas you need.
3
Open the official Poolside app from the project's verified website.
4
Connect your wallet and choose a pair of yield-bearing tokens, for example an LST.
5
Review the quoted fees and price impact, then start with a small amount.
6
If providing liquidity, check how single-sided deposits against a reservoir are handled before confirming.

Open Poolside

Who Poolside is for

Poolside is for LPs and DeFi users who hold LSTs, vault shares or similar tokens and are comfortable reading a whitepaper and assessing smart-contract risk. It is less suited to people who want deep liquidity for general token swaps.

Poolside FAQs

What is Poolside?

Poolside is an automated market maker designed for rebasing and value-accruing tokens, such as liquid staking tokens, lending protocol tokens and vault shares. Its aim is to let liquidity providers keep the yield these assets generate.

Which chains does Poolside support?

Per DefiLlama, Poolside runs on Ethereum, Base, Avalanche and Arbitrum. The homepage roadmap lists the Ethereum mainnet launch as done and the L1 and L2 rollout as in progress.

Is Poolside audited?

The homepage says its contracts were reviewed and audited by Statemind and CertiK, and DefiLlama lists two audits. Audits lower risk but do not remove it, and users should read the reports themselves.

Does Poolside have a token?

The project does not name a Poolside token. DefiLlama lists the token as none, so any token claiming to be Poolside should be checked against the official site and docs.

What are Reservoirs?

Reservoirs are the mechanism Poolside uses to remove the permanent loss of staking rewards and yield that LPs face on other AMMs. The homepage also says they allow single-sided liquidity and let users trade without disturbing the assets locked in the underlying protocol. Full details are in the whitepaper and docs.

What does Poolside cost to use?

The project does not publish fee rates. Check the app and docs for current swap fees, and expect normal network gas costs on the chain you use.

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