It all started in the most ordinary way.
A new token, WAL, was being actively discussed ā airdrops, listings, the Sui ecosystemās potential. The feed was full of phrases like āstill early, but interesting.ā
One user decided not to waste time.
He opened a DeFi interface,
selected the SUI ā sWAL swap,entered $250,
saw the familiar word Swap ā and clicked it.
Without properly checking:
the pool liquiditythe real execution pricethe allowed slippage, which was set high by default
ā±ļø A few seconds of waiting ā transaction confirmed.
The balance updatedā¦And instead of the expected amount, he saw around $5.
Not a hack.
Not a rug pull.
Not a bug.
Just low liquidity + massive slippage that āateā almost the entire amount.
In the comments, the user wrote briefly ā but very accurately:
āI knew DeFi was risky. I just didnāt expect it to be this literal.ā
š Why did this happen?
The pool had very low liquidityThe price in the interface looked fine before confirmationSlippage allowed the trade to go through even at a catastrophic rate
DeFi doesnāt ask: āAre you sure?ā
DeFi simply executes the contract.
š A similar story ā but this time with a Binance-listed token
Many people experienced the same thing earlier with PEPE, which now trades on Binance.
During the peak of the hype:
users entered DEXs before centralized exchangesbought PEPE in small liquidity poolsand received 5ā10x fewer tokens than they expected
Some lost 30ā70% of their position purely due to slippage, thinking it was a ābad price,ā when in reality it was just how DEX mechanics work.
The irony?
Later, PEPE was listed on Binance ā with proper liquidity and a clear order book ā but the money lost at the start never came back.
š§ The main lesson that connects
#walrus , PEPE, and hundreds of other tokens
A promising token ā a safe tradeAirdrops and listings ā no technical risksDeFi ā āclick once and everythingās fineā
š In crypto, you can lose money not because you chose the wrong asset,
but because of one careless click.
š Moral
In crypto, itās not the fastest who win.
And not even the earliest.
Most often, the winners are those who:
āļø look at liquidityāļø read the numbers before confirmingāļø and trust the calculator more than the Swap button
$WAL reminded us of this.
$PEPE showed it earlier.
And the market will repeat this lesson more than once.
@Walrus š¦/acc #story #fun #defi