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Rhea Dex Review 2026: NEAR's Ref and Burrow Merger

Rhea Dex is the automated market maker and swap router of Rhea Finance, the NEAR project formed from Ref Finance and Burrow Finance. It holds roughly $24 million in TVL, but its tracked data lists no audits.

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By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated Nov 5, 2026

DappsAtlas score

7.0/10

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Our verdict on Rhea Dex

7.0/10

Rhea Dex suits NEAR users who want a familiar AMM with an aggregator, plus lending and staking from the same protocol family. Its main strength is its lineage from Ref Finance and a growing set of integration tools. The main caveat is the lack of listed audits and unpublished fee detail, plus a recent drop in TVL. Check the official guide for audits and pool fees, and treat it as a higher-risk DeFi venue.

Score breakdown

How Rhea Dex scores

Security: 5.5/10
Ease of use: 7.0/10
Fees: n/a
Features: 7.5/10

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 Rhea Dex?

Rhea Dex is the exchange arm of Rhea Finance, a NEAR-based DeFi project formed by merging Ref Finance, the first DEX on NEAR, with the lending protocol Burrow Finance. The project describes itself as a chain-abstracted liquidity solution connecting NEAR, Bitcoin and EVM ecosystems.

The DEX is an automated market maker with an aggregator and tools for other apps to embed swaps. Tracked data shows about $24.8 million in total value locked, down about 13% over a week. The wider Rhea protocol also covers lending and a liquid staking product.

The RHEA token launched in 2025 and is traded on several centralised exchanges, PancakeSwap, NEAR Intents and the native DEX. The project publishes a guide, a whitepaper and an SDK, but the tracked data lists no audits and does not state a fee schedule.

How Rhea Dex works

Rhea Dex is an automated market maker. Instead of an order book, users trade against pools of two or more tokens held in smart contracts. Prices follow a formula based on the pool balances, and liquidity providers deposit tokens into pools and earn a share of the trading fees.

On top of the pools, Rhea runs a DEX Aggregator, a router that searches liquidity across several sources to find a trade path. This lets apps and wallets request swaps without building their own routing.

Rhea Finance as a whole brings the old Ref Finance exchange and Burrow Finance lending under one brand, with the stated aim of chain-abstracted liquidity. That means users and applications should be able to reach liquidity from NEAR, Bitcoin and EVM ecosystems without handling each chain's details directly.

6 features

Key features

AMM trading market

A foundational constant-style AMM where users trade against pools and liquidity providers earn from trading activity.

DEX Aggregator V2

A smart router that pulls liquidity from multiple liquidity pools to find trade routes. One post says it powers native NEAR swaps inside a third-party app.

Chain-abstracted liquidity

Rhea positions itself as a chain-abstracted liquidity solution, linking NEAR, Bitcoin and EVM ecosystems rather than keeping liquidity siloed.

Lending and liquid staking

The parent protocol also tracks Rhea Lend, from the Burrow lineage, and an RHEA LST product alongside the DEX.

Swap widget and SDK

A swap widget and SDK let developers embed Rhea swaps, with referral IDs registered in a referral list.

RHEA token

The RHEA token is live on several exchanges, PancakeSwap, NEAR Intents and the native DEX.

Pros and cons

What we like

Long NEAR lineage: it builds on Ref Finance, described as the first DEX on the chain.
Aggregator routes trades across several liquidity sources, and is used by a third-party NEAR app for swaps.
Combines trading, lending and liquid staking under one protocol family.
Developer tools including a swap widget and SDK, with a published guide and whitepaper.
Roughly $24 million in TVL gives it meaningful liquidity within the NEAR ecosystem.

Watch out for

TVL fell about 13% over seven days and 16% over 30 days in the tracked data, showing liquidity can shrink quickly.
No audits are listed in the tracked data, and the project doesn't point to a published audit report.
Concentrated on NEAR, so most of its fortunes depend on that ecosystem's activity.
Fee levels, team details and governance specifics are not set out.
The merger of Ref and Burrow and the new RHEA token add migration and tokenomics risk for existing users.

Rhea Dex fees

Rhea Dex's trading fee schedule is not set out. As an AMM, swaps normally pay a fee that is shared with liquidity providers, and the exact rate depends on the pool. Users should see the quoted fee and price impact in the swap interface before confirming.

Network costs are paid in NEAR on each transaction. Any protocol fees directed to RHEA holders or the treasury are covered in the project's guide and tokenomics documents rather than here.

Is Rhea Dex safe?

The tracked data lists no audits for Rhea Dex. That does not prove none exist, but public information here do not point to a published report, so users should look in the official guide before depositing. As with any AMM, risks include smart-contract bugs, impermanent loss for liquidity providers, and token price volatility.

The protocol is non-custodial in the usual DEX sense: users keep their tokens in their own wallet until they trade or deposit. The merger of Ref and Burrow and the introduction of the RHEA token mean contracts and migrations are newer than the older Ref stack. Check the legality of using DeFi where you live, and never put in funds you cannot afford to lose.

6 steps

How to get started with Rhea Dex

1
Set up a NEAR-compatible wallet and fund it with NEAR for transaction costs.
2
Open the official Rhea Dex site and connect the wallet.
3
Read the official guide for current pool, token and referral information, and check any audit reports.
4
Pick the tokens to swap, then review the quoted rate, fee and price impact.
5
Confirm the transaction in the wallet and verify the received tokens.
6
To provide liquidity, choose a pool and understand impermanent loss before depositing.

Open Rhea Dex

Who Rhea Dex is for

Rhea Dex is for NEAR users who want to swap tokens, provide liquidity or access lending in one ecosystem, and for developers who want to embed swaps using its widget and SDK. It is less suited to people who need audited, institution-grade infrastructure with published fee tables.

Rhea Dex FAQs

What is Rhea Finance?

Rhea Finance is described as the merger of Ref Finance, the first DEX on NEAR, and Burrow Finance, a lending protocol. It combines trading, lending and liquidity under one brand aimed at connecting NEAR, Bitcoin and EVM ecosystems.

What is Rhea Dex?

Rhea Dex is the exchange part of Rhea Finance. It is an automated market maker where users swap tokens against liquidity pools, with an aggregator that routes trades across several liquidity sources.

Does Rhea have a token?

Yes. RHEA is the project's token. Public reporting says it launched in 2025 and trades on several centralised exchanges, on PancakeSwap, through NEAR Intents and on the native Rhea Dex. Check the official guide for current tokenomics.

Which blockchain does Rhea Dex use?

Rhea Dex runs on NEAR. The wider project says it aims to connect liquidity from Bitcoin and EVM ecosystems through chain abstraction, but the DEX itself is tracked on NEAR only.

Is Rhea Dex audited?

No audits are listed in the tracked data. Any DeFi protocol carries smart-contract risk, so users should check the official docs for audit reports and only deposit what they can afford to lose.

Can other apps integrate Rhea swaps?

Yes. Public reporting mentions a swap widget and an SDK that let other apps embed Rhea swaps, with a referral ID that must be registered in Rhea's referral list.

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