Catch Orca CLO and @formation_so cofounder @cpmontagano live tomorrow at 3 PM ET on crypto policy and what the midterms mean for Solana.
3.6/ 5
Our score
Good
Chains
SolanaOther
Type
AMM
Audited
Yes
Governance token
ORCA
What is Orca?
Orca is a decentralized exchange and liquidity protocol on Solana. Its core product is an automated market maker built around concentrated-liquidity pools called Whirlpools. The protocol says liquidity providers have earned more than $500 million in fees and that cumulative trading volume has passed $500 billion.
Who is behind Orca
Orca launched in February 2021 and was co-founded by Grace Kwan. Luke Truitt is its new CEO. The project raised $18 million across two funding rounds in September 2021, with backing from Zee Prime Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Solana Ventures, Polychain Capital, Placeholder, Three Arrows Capital and other investors. Orca later announced a merger with Loopscale under Formation, a Solana DeFi platform combining trading, fixed-rate credit and vaults.
How the exchange works
Users connect a wallet to swap assets or provide liquidity on Solana. Whirlpools let liquidity providers choose a price range for a trading pair instead of spreading capital across the entire curve. Orca also has vaults, a position simulator and a portfolio dashboard for finding strategies, estimating returns before a deposit, tracking performance, and compounding yields and rewards. Its liquidity and asset-launch tools are aimed at projects building markets on Solana.
Fees and availability
Orca is available on Solana. The interface provides fee visibility for pool positions, while liquidity-provider returns come from trading activity in the selected pool. Trading and liquidity provision expose users to smart-contract and market risks. The protocol supports wallet-based on-chain use rather than a custodial exchange account.
Track record and risks
Orca reports more than $250 million in daily trade volume and more than $236 million in total value locked, figures shown on its website in October 2026. The protocol says it has operated for more than five years without an exploit and that its code has been reviewed by four or more independent security firms. Its code is open source.
Concentrated liquidity can increase losses from price movement when a position leaves its range. Swaps remain exposed to slippage and MEV, while long-tail pools can have thin liquidity. Smart-contract risk applies to pools, vaults and the wider Formation and Loopscale integration.
Best for:Solana token swappersConcentrated-liquidity providersSolana yield strategistsProjects launching Solana assets
Pros and cons
Pros
- Solana-native AMM with $500B+ cumulative trading volume
- Concentrated liquidity gives providers control over price ranges
- Open-source code with 4+ independent security reviews
- Position simulator shows projected returns before deposits
- Portfolio tools track positions, yields and rewards
Cons
- Concentrated liquidity can leave positions inactive outside their chosen range
- Swaps remain exposed to MEV and slippage
- Long-tail pools can have thin liquidity
- Pools and vaults carry smart-contract risk
- Rewards can depend on ORCA and other token incentives
Our review
3.6/5
Good
Orca offers Solana liquidity and concentrated pools, but its single-chain focus and AMM exposure limit flexibility for cross-chain traders.
Orca is a Solana AMM built around concentrated-liquidity pools called Whirlpools. The protocol reports more than $500 billion in cumulative trading volume, over $250 million in daily trade volume and more than $500 million in fees earned by liquidity providers. TVL was about $301 million on October 16, 2026.
Orca uses an AMM on Solana. Concentrated liquidity can improve capital efficiency around active price ranges, but liquidity providers also take impermanent-loss and range-management risk. The site names pools, vaults, a position simulator and a portfolio dashboard, giving liquidity providers controls for position management.
Orca says its code has been open source since launch, and it reports reviews by more than four independent security firms with zero exploits over more than five years of operation. Smart-contract exploits, pricing attacks and thin liquidity remain relevant AMM risks. Users also take on Solana network and wallet risks because trades are on-chain and non-custodial in structure.
Orca launched in February 2021 and was co-founded by Grace Kwan. It raised $18 million across two funding rounds, with backers including Coinbase Ventures, Solana Ventures, Polychain Capital, Placeholder, Zee Prime Capital and Three Arrows Capital. The recent formation of a combined platform with Loopscale adds lending and fixed-rate credit ambitions, but the core exchange remains a Solana AMM rather than a multi-chain trading venue.
Orca fits traders and liquidity providers who already use Solana and want concentrated pools and portfolio tools.
Sources (3)
Specs
| Type | AMM |
|---|---|
| Chains | Solana, Other |
| Cross-chain swaps | No · unverified |
| Audited | Yes · unverified |
| Open source | Yes · unverified |
| Governance token | ORCA · unverified |
Not disclosed by the provider: KYC required, Swap fee, Limit orders, Perpetual futures, Max leverage (x), Routes across other DEXs, MEV protection, Mobile app, Points or rewards program.
Data from the provider's website and public sources. Fees and availability change; confirm on the official site before you sign up.
Key features
Whirlpool liquidity pools
Concentrated-liquidity AMM pools on Solana let providers choose a price range for each position.
Wallet-based swaps
Users swap assets on Solana through an on-chain AMM without depositing funds into a custodial exchange account.
Yield vaults
Vaults package yield strategies for deploying and managing capital across selected liquidity opportunities.
Position simulator
The position simulator estimates returns before a user deposits capital into a liquidity pool.
Portfolio dashboard
A single dashboard tracks liquidity positions, performance, yields and rewards.
Asset launch support
Projects launching assets on Solana can use Orca liquidity and market-launch support.
Open-source contracts
Orca's smart-contract code is publicly available and has been reviewed by four or more independent security firms.
Inside Orca
Earn Yield
This area covers liquidity pools and vaults for deploying capital into trading pairs or yield strategies. Orca provides controls for position management and fee visibility.
Discover
Discover lets users explore yield strategies across stable, correlated and more volatile positions. The site presents liquidity pools and vaults as the main strategy types.
Deploy
Deploy lets users choose a pool, review its controls and simulate returns before depositing. Positions can be opened with defined liquidity ranges.
Manage
Manage is the portfolio area for tracking positions, performance, yields and rewards. It also supports compounding from a single dashboard.
Liquidity Pools
Liquidity Pools are Orca's AMM markets, built around concentrated-liquidity Whirlpools. Liquidity providers deposit capital into trading pairs and earn fees from swaps.
Vaults
Vaults package yield strategies for on-chain capital. Users can discover and manage these strategies alongside individual liquidity positions.
Position Sim
Position Sim lets users model returns before depositing into a liquidity pool. It is intended for comparing a planned position's possible fee and yield outcomes.
Portfolio
Portfolio tracks positions, performance, yields and rewards in one dashboard. It gives liquidity providers a consolidated view of their Orca activity.
Launch Asset
Launch Asset provides liquidity and market-launch support for projects introducing assets on Solana. The site lists PYUSD, cbBTC, JTO and CASH among launches or integrations associated with Orca.
Orca screenshots
What users say about Orca
Users highlight Orca’s alerts for liquidity positions, while complaints center on wallet connections and failed liquidity operations. The limited feedback is more issue-focused than broadly positive, with several problems reported by individual users.
In their own words
“How to get notified when your Orca LP position goes out of range (Alerts setup guide for Solana LPs) If you are providing concentrated liquidity on Solana, the single most expensive mistake you can make is not knowing when your position leaves its range.”
“Introducing Orca Alerts: Get Notified When You're Out of Range! Turn on alerts for any position and get notified when it moves out of range. Supports in-app, Telegram, and email.”
“Orca can't see positions. Anyone else having issues seeing their liquidity positions on orca? I can see history/closed positions but just not current positions.”
“WalletConnect, Orca and Ledger: Domain mismatch Hi everyone i wanted to use Wallet Connect to link Orca and my ledger but when I was transfered to Ledger wallet to approve,there was an error message in red mentionning a domain mismatch. Has anyone encountered the same issue?”
“Something broken with adding and removing liquidity (Dec 6, 2025)? i tried to harvest my fees this morning and got this error; eventually worked once i moved more SOL into the account as part of my troubleshooting, maybe that was the issue, maybe not?”
Based on 45 Reddit posts and comments from the last 12 months, checked Oct 18, 2026. These are posts by users on other sites, not reviews submitted on CryptoReview.
User reviews
No user reviews yet. Have you used Orca? Share your experience below.
Funding and investors
$18MTotal raised
1Round
6Investors
-
Funding round Sep 2021 $18M
FAQ
Who founded Orca?
Orca was co-founded by Grace Kwan and launched in February 2021. Luke Truitt is the company's new CEO.
What fees does Orca charge?
Orca's website reports more than $500 million in fees earned by liquidity providers.
Where is Orca available, and does it require KYC?
Orca is available on Solana and uses on-chain wallet interactions.
Is Orca safe to use?
Orca says its code is open source, has been reviewed by more than four independent security firms and has had zero exploits over more than five years. Smart-contract, pricing, MEV and liquidity risks still apply to its AMM pools.
Which chains and assets does Orca support?
Orca is documented as a Solana DEX, and its pools support Solana assets and trading pairs.
Does Orca have a token?
Orca has the ORCA token.
Latest from Orca on X
Every tokenized asset needs a market before it can scale. Orca's liquidity infrastructure on @solana gives @formation_so the tools to build one for each asset.
Tune in to Formation CEO @Luketruitt on @0xResearch ↓
Tune in to Formation CEO @Luketruitt on @0xResearch ↓
Orca pool creators can now pick from two new Adaptive Fee profiles.
Launch Spike: for new token launches
Quick Reset: for tokens with frequent bursts of volatility
When price moves, your pool's fee responds. Each profile changes how hard it rises and how fast it resets ↓ https://t.co/2gOuf51IoH
Launch Spike: for new token launches
Quick Reset: for tokens with frequent bursts of volatility
When price moves, your pool's fee responds. Each profile changes how hard it rises and how fast it resets ↓ https://t.co/2gOuf51IoH
What's next for Orca as part of Formation, explained by @Luketruitt at TOKEN2049 ↓
$TSLA is live on Orca to Trade & LP 24/7
Powered by @sunrise and @Backpack Securities https://t.co/jEdRjIwn2X
Powered by @sunrise and @Backpack Securities https://t.co/jEdRjIwn2X
Recent public posts from @orca_so, shown as published. Not reviewed or endorsed by CryptoReview.
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