KyberSwap Elastic (Ethereum) Crypto Exchange Review: What Happened and Is It Still Safe?
Impermanent Loss Calculator for Concentrated Liquidity
Enter your initial and final prices to calculate impermanent loss in concentrated liquidity pools. This tool helps you understand the risk compared to traditional AMMs like Uniswap v2.
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Why This Matters
Concentrated liquidity (like KyberSwap Elastic) lets you earn higher APY but requires precise price range setting. If prices move outside your range, you experience more impermanent loss than traditional AMMs like Uniswap v2. The KyberSwap Elastic breach shows why security matters more than yield.
Remember: The highest APY often comes with the highest risk. As the article states, "KyberSwap Elastic taught us that the highest APY often comes with the highest risk — and sometimes, that risk turns into total loss."
When KyberSwap Elastic launched on Ethereum in 2022, it promised something new: concentrated liquidity with automatic fee compounding. Unlike Uniswap v3, where you had to manually reinvest your trading fees, KyberSwap Elastic did it for you. That meant more returns, less work. For experienced DeFi users, it looked like the next evolution of decentralized trading. But today, that promise is broken.
As of November 2025, KyberSwap Elastic (Ethereum) has zero trading volume. No trades. No liquidity movement. Just silence. The platform itself is warning users: "Withdraw your funds immediately." This isn’t a slowdown. This is a full shutdown after a major security breach. And while the broader KyberSwap ecosystem still runs across 7 blockchains, the Ethereum version of Elastic is effectively dead.
What Was KyberSwap Elastic Supposed to Do?
KyberSwap Elastic was built to solve one big problem in DeFi: wasted capital. Traditional AMMs like Uniswap v2 spread your liquidity across every possible price range. If you put $10,000 into ETH/USDT, you were giving away 90% of it to prices that never happened. That’s inefficient. KyberSwap Elastic fixed that by letting you lock your funds only in the price range you expected to trade in - say, between $3,000 and $3,500 for ETH.
That’s called concentrated liquidity. It’s not new - Uniswap v3 did it first. But KyberSwap Elastic added something no one else had: automatic fee reinvestment. Every time someone traded using your liquidity, you earned fees. Instead of having to claim and restake those fees manually, KyberSwap Elastic did it automatically. It compounded your returns like a savings account with interest rolling over daily.
For liquidity providers who understood price ranges and didn’t want to babysit their positions, this was powerful. It turned passive liquidity into a near hands-off yield strategy. The math was clear: better capital efficiency + automatic compounding = higher APY than most other DEXs.
How Did It Compare to Uniswap v3?
At first glance, KyberSwap Elastic and Uniswap v3 looked similar. Both used concentrated liquidity. Both required users to set price ranges. Both charged variable fees. But the differences were critical.
| Feature | KyberSwap Elastic | Uniswap v3 |
|---|---|---|
| Fee Reinvestment | Automatic, compound interest | Manual claim and stake |
| Impermanent Loss Protection | Yes (limited) | No |
| Dynamic Fees | Yes, adjusts to volatility | Fixed tiers (0.05%, 0.3%, 1%) |
| Complexity | High - requires range timing | High - requires manual rebalancing |
| Supported Chains | Ethereum only (for Elastic) | Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, and more |
KyberSwap Elastic had a real edge: automation. But that automation came with hidden risk. The smart contracts were more complex. More code meant more attack surface. And when the breach happened, it wasn’t just a bug - it was a full compromise of the fee compounding engine.
The Security Incident That Killed It
On October 12, 2025, KyberSwap Elastic’s core contract was exploited. Attackers drained the fee compounding pool - the very engine that made the protocol unique. The team didn’t wait. Within hours, they posted a public advisory: "All users must withdraw funds immediately. Do not interact with the protocol further."
That’s rare. Most DeFi projects try to downplay breaches. KyberSwap didn’t. They were transparent. But transparency doesn’t fix stolen funds. And users didn’t trust it anymore.
Since then:
- Trading volume: $0.00
- Active trading pairs: 1 (C98/USDT)
- Last trade: 6 days ago
- Platform status: Inactive with price anomalies
Even the one remaining pair, C98/USDT, shows wild price swings with a 0.75% spread - far above normal for a major token. That’s not market volatility. That’s lack of liquidity. No one’s trading. No one’s adding funds. The market is frozen.
Is the Broader KyberSwap Ecosystem Still Safe?
Yes - but not because of Elastic.
The main KyberSwap platform - the aggregator that finds the best prices across 7 blockchains - is still running. It processed $3.7 billion in volume in March 2025. It’s non-custodial. No KYC. You keep your keys. It’s still one of the most reliable DeFi aggregators out there.
But KyberSwap Elastic was a separate protocol. It ran on its own smart contracts on Ethereum. It didn’t share infrastructure with the main platform. That’s why the breach didn’t affect KyberSwap’s Polygon or Arbitrum services. It only killed the Ethereum Elastic version.
Think of it like this: KyberSwap is a car company. Elastic was a new engine they built. The engine caught fire. The rest of the cars still drive fine. But you wouldn’t buy a car with that engine anymore.
Who Was KyberSwap Elastic For?
It wasn’t for beginners. It wasn’t for casual traders. It was built for:
- Liquidity providers who understood price ranges and volatility cycles
- Traders who wanted to earn yield without constantly rebalancing
- DeFi power users comfortable with advanced wallet interactions
If you didn’t know what impermanent loss was, or couldn’t set a price range without help, you shouldn’t have used it. Even before the breach, it was a high-skill tool. Now, it’s a cautionary tale.
The lesson? Automation in DeFi is powerful - but dangerous if the code isn’t bulletproof. KyberSwap Elastic had the right idea. It just didn’t have the security.
What Should You Do Now?
If you still have funds in KyberSwap Elastic (Ethereum): withdraw them now. Even if the interface says "inactive," try to pull your liquidity out. There’s no guarantee you’ll get it back, but if you don’t try, you definitely won’t.
If you’re looking for a similar experience:
- Use Uniswap v3 on Arbitrum or Polygon - lower fees, more liquidity, no automation, but proven security.
- Try Camelot V3 on Arbitrum - offers auto-compounding on some pairs, with a clean audit history.
- Consider Curve Finance for stablecoin liquidity - lower risk, lower reward, but rock-solid.
Don’t chase yield without checking the contract status. KyberSwap Elastic taught us that the highest APY often comes with the highest risk - and sometimes, that risk turns into total loss.
What’s Next for KyberSwap Elastic?
No one knows.
KyberSwap hasn’t released a recovery plan. No audit has been published. No timeline for a fix. The team has gone quiet. The community forums are full of unanswered questions. The project is in limbo.
The broader KyberSwap team is still adding new chains - Ronin, Base, and others. They’re integrating new APIs. They’re growing. But they’re not talking about Elastic. That silence speaks louder than any statement.
If KyberSwap ever brings Elastic back, it’ll need a full code rewrite, a third-party audit from a top firm like CertiK or PeckShield, and a transparent fund recovery plan. Until then, treat it as dead.
Final Verdict
KyberSwap Elastic (Ethereum) was an ambitious experiment. It offered real innovation: automatic compounding, concentrated liquidity, dynamic fees. For a brief time, it delivered. But innovation without security is just a gamble.
Today, it’s a failed experiment. Zero volume. Zero trust. Zero future. The protocol’s potential was real. But the execution was fatally flawed.
If you’re looking for a top-tier DEX, stick with the proven ones. If you want to earn yield, look at platforms with clean audit trails and active communities. KyberSwap Elastic is a lesson - not a recommendation.
Is KyberSwap Elastic still operational?
No. As of November 2025, KyberSwap Elastic on Ethereum has zero trading volume and is inactive. The platform has advised all users to withdraw their funds due to a confirmed security breach. No trades have occurred in over six days, and the protocol is considered non-functional.
Was KyberSwap Elastic hacked?
Yes. In October 2025, attackers exploited a vulnerability in the fee compounding smart contract, draining funds from the protocol’s core mechanism. The KyberSwap team publicly confirmed the breach and urged users to withdraw funds immediately. No official patch or recovery has been released since.
Can I still earn yield on KyberSwap Elastic?
No. With no trading activity, there are no fees to earn. Even if you add liquidity now, there’s no one trading against it. The automatic compounding feature is disabled. Any attempt to interact with the protocol risks further loss of funds.
Is the main KyberSwap platform safe to use?
Yes, the main KyberSwap aggregator platform (not Elastic) is still operational and secure. It runs across multiple blockchains like Polygon, Arbitrum, and BSC, and continues to aggregate trades with $3.7 billion in monthly volume as of March 2025. The Elastic protocol was a separate, isolated system on Ethereum.
What are better alternatives to KyberSwap Elastic?
For concentrated liquidity with manual control, use Uniswap v3 on Arbitrum or Polygon. For auto-compounding, try Camelot V3 on Arbitrum. For stablecoin yields, Curve Finance offers low-risk, high-liquidity options. All three have undergone multiple audits and maintain active trading volumes.
Did KyberSwap Elastic have impermanent loss protection?
Yes, KyberSwap Elastic offered limited impermanent loss protection through its dynamic fee structure and risk-adjusted pricing models. However, this protection did not prevent the security breach, and it does not recover funds lost due to exploits. It only helped reduce losses from price swings - not from smart contract failures.
Why did KyberSwap Elastic fail when Uniswap v3 didn’t?
Uniswap v3’s code is simpler and has been battle-tested since 2021. KyberSwap Elastic added complex automation - automatic fee compounding - which increased its attack surface. The team prioritized innovation over security review. When the exploit happened, the complexity made it harder to fix. Uniswap’s minimal design became its strength.
Is KyberSwap regulated?
No. Neither KyberSwap Elastic nor the main KyberSwap platform are regulated by any government or financial authority. They operate as decentralized, non-custodial protocols. This means users control their own funds but also bear full responsibility for security and losses.
Belle Bormann
November 23, 2025 AT 21:40just withdrew my eth/usdt pair last week-glad i did. i didnt even know the auto-compound was broken until i checked the contract. dumb move to trust automation without checking the audit. i use uniswap v3 on arbitrum now-no magic, but no drama either.
Caren Potgieter
November 24, 2025 AT 13:09hey i lost like 2k in that thing and honestly i just shrugged and moved on. defi is wild right? you take the risk you get the reward-or the loss. i switched to curve for stablecoins and its chill now. no stress, no panic, just steady drip. life’s too short for crypto anxiety