Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the DeFi terms used throughout these docs.
AMM (Automated Market Maker)
A smart contract that lets users trade tokens against a liquidity pool instead of a traditional order book. Prices are set by a mathematical formula (e.g., constant product for V2) rather than matched buy/sell orders. Watergun's V2 and V3 DEX products use AMMs; the PulseChain DEX remains with 9mm Pro.
Concentrated Liquidity
A V3 feature letting a liquidity provider allocate capital to a specific price range instead of the entire price curve (0 → ∞). Capital efficiency is higher, but the LP only earns fees while the price is within their range.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange)
An exchange that runs as smart contracts on a blockchain — no custodian, no central order matcher, and typically no KYC. Watergun's V2 / V3 DEX is a DEX.
DEX Aggregator
A service that routes a trade across multiple DEXs in a single transaction to find the best execution. Watergun Swap (formerly 9x) is Watergun's aggregator.
ERC-404
A hybrid token standard combining the fungibility of ERC-20 with the individuality of ERC-721. A token can trade like a coin on a DEX while still representing a specific NFT under the hood. PEWCAT uses this standard.
Fee Tier (V3)
V3 pools are created at a specific fee tier — the percentage the pool charges on every swap. The Watergun V3 tiers documented here are 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.25%, 1%, 2%. LPs pick the tier that matches the pair's volatility.
Fork
A copy of an existing codebase with modifications. Watergun's V2 / V3 DEX code derives from PancakeSwap; Watergun Swap derives from 0x. Upstream audit history is useful context but does not audit the fork's deployment or changes.
Gas
The fee you pay to execute a transaction on a blockchain, denominated in the chain's native token (ETH, PLS, BNB, S, etc.). Swap and liquidity transactions cost gas.
Impermanent Loss (IL)
The opportunity cost a liquidity provider experiences when the price of the pooled assets diverges from the price at deposit. It's "impermanent" only if prices return to their original ratio before withdrawal. Affects V2 LPs in full and V3 LPs within their active range.
Liquidity Pool
A smart contract holding two (or more) assets that traders can swap against. Liquidity providers deposit into the pool and earn a share of swap fees proportional to their stake.
LP (Liquidity Provider)
Someone who deposits assets into a liquidity pool to earn fees. V2 LPs receive PLP tokens representing their share; V3 LPs receive an NFT position that tracks their specific range.
Merkle Proof
A compact cryptographic proof that a value belongs to a larger dataset. Merkle proofs have many blockchain uses. The former 9MM Pro-era claim program that used them is sunset.
Native Token
The base currency of a blockchain, used to pay gas. Each chain has its own: ETH (Ethereum, Base), PLS (PulseChain), BNB (BNB Chain), S (Sonic).
Primary Revenue Share
A former 9MM Pro-era holder distribution concept. That program is sunset; this term does not describe a current Watergun benefit. Visit 9mm.pro for $9MM-related information.
Router
A smart contract users interact with for swaps and liquidity actions. The router orchestrates calls to the Factory and individual pool contracts so users make a single transaction. Every chain has its own router address — see Deployments.
Secondary Revenue Share
A former 9MM Pro-era NFT-holder distribution concept. That program is sunset; this term does not describe a current Watergun benefit. Visit 9mm.pro for $9MM-related information.
Slippage
The difference between the price you expect when submitting a trade and the price you actually get. High slippage usually indicates thin liquidity or a large trade size relative to the pool.
Snapshot
A record of wallet balances or other on-chain state at a specific block. Former 9MM Pro-era distribution snapshots do not imply a current claim program.
Subgraph
An indexed dataset served via GraphQL, built from on-chain events. Developers use subgraphs to query historical DEX data (swaps, pools, volumes) far more efficiently than reading the chain directly. Watergun subgraph references are listed in Deployments.
TVL (Total Value Locked)
The dollar value of all assets deposited in a protocol's smart contracts. A rough measure of user trust and protocol scale.
V2 vs V3
V2 uses constant-product liquidity spread across the entire price curve — simple, always-on. V3 uses concentrated liquidity where LPs pick a specific price range — more capital-efficient but requires active management.
Wrapped Token
A 1:1 tokenized version of an asset from another chain or of a native token. For example, WETH is Wrapped Ether — ETH packaged as an ERC-20 so it can be used in smart contracts that expect token interfaces.