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ZipSwap Review 2026: Sunset Optimism and Arbitrum DEX

ZipSwap was a decentralized exchange on Optimism and Arbitrum built around low transaction costs. Its team has said it is ending liquidity rewards and future development.

By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated Nov 5, 2026

DappsAtlas score

3.0/10

Weak

Our verdict on ZipSwap

3.0/10

ZipSwap is a small Optimism and Arbitrum DEX whose team has said it is ending liquidity rewards and future development. It is mainly of interest to people who still hold old liquidity positions or the ZIP token and need to understand what happened. New users are better served by actively maintained exchanges with audits and deeper liquidity. The main caveat is abandonment risk: no audits are listed, TVL is low and no further updates are planned.

Score breakdown

How ZipSwap scores

Security: 3.0/10
Ease of use: n/a
Fees: n/a
Features: 3.0/10

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 ZipSwap?

ZipSwap is a decentralized exchange that launched on Optimism and later ran on Arbitrum too. It described itself as the first optimistic rollup-optimized decentralized trading protocol, offering swaps, liquidity provision and rewards through its ZIP token.

The project's official account has said that ZipSwap is ceasing liquidity rewards and future development. The reasons it gave included that the original idea of the lowest possible transaction fee did not play out as hoped. The protocol still shows a small amount of value locked, about $84,000, but it is no longer being actively built.

The homepage could not be retrieved, and the project does not publish audit reports, team details or a fee table in the sources available. Treat this page as a profile of a winding-down protocol rather than a recommendation to trade there.

How ZipSwap works

ZipSwap worked like other automated market makers. Liquidity providers deposit two tokens into a pool, and traders swap against that pool at a price set by the ratio of the tokens. Providers earn a share of the swap fees in return for taking on price risk.

What set ZipSwap apart was its focus on optimistic rollups. It described itself as a trading protocol optimized for this kind of network, which keeps transaction costs lower than Ethereum mainnet. It ran on Optimism and Arbitrum.

The ZIP token was used to reward liquidity and to attract projects launching on Optimism. The team has since said it is ceasing liquidity rewards and future development.

4 features

Key features

Token swaps on Layer 2

Users could swap tokens on Optimism and Arbitrum through an automated market maker rather than an order book.

Liquidity pools

Liquidity providers could deposit token pairs into pools and earn a share of trading fees, plus ZIP rewards while they lasted.

ZIP rewards

ZIP was distributed as an incentive for liquidity providers, and the project invited new Optimism token projects to make it their main exchange.

Rollup-optimized design

The protocol was designed around optimistic rollup economics, aiming to keep transaction costs low for traders.

Pros and cons

What we like

Clear original purpose: a DEX tailored to low-cost optimistic rollups
Ran on two established Layer 2 networks, Optimism and Arbitrum
Standard AMM design that is easy to understand
The team communicated openly that rewards and development were ending

Watch out for

The team has said it is ceasing liquidity rewards and future development, so no new features or fixes should be expected
TVL is only about $84,000, so liquidity is thin and larger trades would likely see heavy slippage
No audits are listed for the protocol
The ZIP token was mainly used for liquidity rewards, which have been discontinued
The team, fee schedule and governance details are not published in the sources available
The original low-fee selling point has weakened as other Layer 2 networks have become cheap

ZipSwap fees

ZipSwap's swap fee, liquidity provider share and any protocol cut are not published in the sources available. Users of any such DEX also pay network gas on Optimism or Arbitrum, which varies with network conditions.

The project's own messaging centered on a low-transaction-fee design, but it has said that original idea did not hold up as planned. Anyone checking costs should look at the fee and price impact shown on the swap screen before confirming a trade.

Is ZipSwap safe?

No audits are listed for ZipSwap, and the sources available do not name a team, bug bounty or governance process. Smart-contract risk is therefore unquantified, and an unmaintained protocol will not receive security patches if a problem is found.

The project has said it is ceasing liquidity rewards and future development, so counterparty and abandonment risk are significant. Low liquidity also raises the risk of price manipulation and slippage. Anyone with funds in its pools should review them on-chain and consider exiting.

5 steps

How to get started with ZipSwap

1
Check whether the app and its contracts are still reachable and functioning before connecting a wallet.
2
If you hold old ZipSwap liquidity positions, review them on-chain and consider withdrawing instead of leaving funds in an unmaintained protocol.
3
Use a wallet that supports Optimism or Arbitrum and fund it with a small amount of ETH for gas.
4
Compare the quoted price with another exchange on the same network to gauge slippage given the low liquidity.
5
Start with a very small test transaction and revoke token approvals afterward.

Who ZipSwap is for

ZipSwap is relevant mainly to existing liquidity providers and ZIP holders who want to understand the project's status and exit their positions. It is not a good fit for new traders looking for deep liquidity, ongoing development or audited contracts.

ZipSwap FAQs

What is ZipSwap?

ZipSwap was a decentralized exchange, or DEX, on Optimism and Arbitrum. It let users swap tokens and provide liquidity, with ZIP token rewards as an incentive. Its stated aim was to be a trading protocol optimized for optimistic rollups.

Is ZipSwap still active?

A post from the project's official account says ZipSwap is ceasing liquidity rewards and future development. The reasons given include the failure of its original idea of the lowest possible transaction fee to hold up. Treat it as a sunset project and check on-chain activity before using it.

What is the ZIP token for?

ZIP is the protocol's own token and was used to reward liquidity providers and projects that chose ZipSwap as their main exchange. With rewards discontinued, its main use case has been removed. The project has not published any new utility for it.

Is ZipSwap safe to use?

Which networks it runs on is clear: Optimism and Arbitrum. Funds left in old liquidity pools could still be at risk or hard to exit if the interface is no longer maintained. Anyone with a position should review it directly on-chain and consider withdrawing.

What are ZipSwap's fees?

The sources available do not publish a fee schedule. Users pay network gas on top of any swap fee. On any DEX, the swap quote screen shows the fee and price impact before you confirm.

Are there alternatives to ZipSwap?

Optimism and Arbitrum both host many active exchanges with deeper liquidity. Compare liquidity, audits and ongoing maintenance before choosing. A maintained venue is generally a safer choice than a sunset one.

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