In the beginning, for me, it was about Bitcoin, Ethereum and maybe even Doge. Then I got a little deeper and ventured into XRP, Cardano and Polygon (matic). The more I began to explore the more projects I gained interest in, and soon enough I got to a project not available on any wallet I had. I had researched the coin for a few days and had watched a few videos that said it could be hot...but with no availability I shook it off and continued learning about other coins. Maybe a week later or so I checked on the progress of this coin and saw that it had grown by almost 1000 times since I had seen it. Shock gave way to frustration and then anger. I headed to the chat arena and started to ask questions. The newer projects, the real alt coins, the much higher risk vs. reward tokens were on either Uniswap or Pancake swap.
This crypto experience is chock full of research, and if it isn't, you aren't doing it right. Learning about Uniswap and Pancake swap would be no different. I have used both now for certain purchases over the last two years and to say they were difficult is an under statement. They are no where near as smooth as Coinbase, PayPal, CRYPTO.COM and even BINANCE US. Uniswap and Binance are decentralized trading protocols that allow trading with little oversight. The power is truly in the users hand, a good thing, for the most part, but you must watch your every step. Using them opens you up to new lingo like slippage tolerance, which is basically a way of setting a limit of how many coins you are willing to accept for the amount you are going to pay. It also opens you up to scams and rug pulls galore. Let's face it, in the end, the majority of the thousands of coins available are not legit. But there are some advantages to both of these sites worth weighing in your decision.
UNISWAP/Metamask/Ethereum
"Swap, earn and build on the leading decentralized crypto trading protocol", is what you read on the opening of Uniswap's webpage. They don't, however, tell you that a trip to the dentist for a double root canal with no anesthesia is easier and way more fun! The reason for that....is , or more specifically Ether. In your research of Ethereum you may have heard that it can at times have high gas fees. This is a huge understatement. Thank God they have upgraded the platform and are slowly getting to the point where the upgrade will be complete. But for now, it is the same old Ethereum, and it is awful. The gas fees are insane if you are swapping at the wrong time, which seems like the entire time I am awake. Swapping, by the way, is what you do on Uniswap. You can't buy tokens there, you have to swap.
One of the benefits that users appreciate is not having to sign up for anything, you just connect your wallet and swap one token for the token you are looking to acquire. The preferred wallet of Uniswap is . The base coin of Metamask, again, is Ethereum and this makes using METAMASK a difficult endeavor. You can also use trust wallet and COINBASE wallet with Uniswap, but from my experience, it is not a smooth connection. The transactions are usually denied due to a variety of reasons, usually having to do with the fact that you don't have enough Ethereum to cover the gas fees. I have gotten to the point of frustration at times that I tried to use less than half the Ethereum I had and that was still not enough to cover the fees! When it has worked, half the time I barely knew what I did to succeed.
Aside from offering you thousands of choices of coins/tokens, Uniswap is popular because of its liquidity pools. These pools allow you to deposit a pair of tokens and begin "liquidity mining", earning at rates that vary from 5% to over 100% APY. Those kinds of numbers can be staggering and attract people all the time looking for the elusive "passive income". With great rewards though, come great risks, and if a coin or coins you have deposited into a liquidity pool lose value, your investment may lose value as well. The riskier the coins you are investing increases the risk of the overall, so APY percentage should not always be what you base your decision on.
Now, if I am being honest I will say this....this criticism comes from a 50 year chef who is no computer or tech master. Thank God for my wife for being there to answer technical questions for most of my computing issues. I have watched countless hours of YouTube video tutorials on using Uniswap and spent hours reading how to's, so I think I am pretty well informed. Most of this crypto stuff I have figured out through investigating or collaborating with other traders I have met online. You may have better luck with Uniswap than I have had, just do your own research. I will say that for mass adoption Uniswap needs to become easier and smoother to use. One of the fears in deciding whether or not to invest in crypto is the unknown, and a site that is difficult to figure out is going to turn off many.
PANCAKE SWAP/Trust/BNB
"Trade, earn and win crypto in the most popular decentralized platform in the galaxy" is the first thing you will read on Pancake Swap. This is certainly similar to what Uniswap says and both sites do provide fairly even services. Pancake swap, however, seems to do it a little smoother, at least in my experience. Using the BNB token to swap coins has been easier to do than Uniswap and the Ethereum way. Though Uniswap's 0.3% is something you can bank on, Pancake swap's fee are variable and change with the liquidity in various pools. In general, Pancake's swap's fees are lower. Throw in the Ethereum X-factor and its ridiculous gas fees and in most cases it is a no brainer.
Pancake swap does not offer nearly as many coins as Uniswap, which is good and bad. It is good because Uniswap has been accused of not thoroughly doing their due diligence checking on the projects that it lists. There have been many rug pulls and garbage coins listed that have cost users millions in lost money. Pancake swap is not completely innocent with the listing of crap coins, but they have been far fewer. For sure, that is why with both these sites and anytime you are buying into a new project, you must do your own research. It is bad, because there are some coins that Pancake doesn't list that are on Uniswap, so your variety of choices drops considerably. You will find coins you want that are only available using Uniswap.
Whereas Uniswap offers liquidity pools for its users to generate passive income, Pancake swap offers staking and farming to provide liquidity to its platform. These staking and farming rates have been quite high at times and offer users great rewards for taking advantage of them. As with the risks in Uniswap's liquidity pools, if the coins you are staking or farming lose significant value, so can you. This is where the risk vs. reward factor becomes important. Learning to properly use the Pancake swap farming feature will require you to watch several YouTube videos at the least, but it will be worth the time. Be sure you are comfortable with the process before you take that step, it is a big one.
CONCLUSION
As far as adoption rates, Uniswap has more users, but Pancake swap has begun to close the gap. The anger over Ethereum's massive gas fees can be seen constantly on telegram and it will not go away until the changeover to Ethereum 2.0 is complete. In the end, with proper research you will find the DEX that fits your needs. The anonymity, security and privacy are great advantages, but the technical requirements and liquidity risks make both sites tough, especially for beginners. Over time each site has gotten a little easier to use, but they are still far from user friendly and need to keep working to make the experience more seamless. User autonomy is a strong driver for many new users to try these platforms, but the lack of support can make you feel alone on a deserted island. Whatever you do, make your first trade/swap an inexpensive one, this way any issues or mistakes won't cause too much pain! Good luck out there!!
