Core concepts
The same token can trade at different prices in different markets. Understanding the pair, available liquidity and fees helps you compare what a trade will cost and decide where to supply liquidity.
A market is a pair of assets
An Abyss pool holds two tokens that traders exchange. The base asset is the asset being priced; the quote asset is what its price is expressed in. For an illustrative TOKEN/USDC market, a price of 2 USDC means one TOKEN is priced at two USDC. Calling USDC the quote asset does not establish its backing or value.
Abyss uses an automated market maker: trades use assets supplied to the pool instead of matching a buyer directly with a seller. Buying or selling changes the pool's asset mix and moves its price. A larger trade against less available liquidity generally moves the price further.
Liquidity is available over a range
Providers choose the prices at which their assets support trades. This is concentrated liquidity.
For example, a provider could choose a range from 1 to 3 quote units per TOKEN. At a price of 2, the position is active and can earn fees. Outside the range it holds one asset and earns no swap fees until price returns.
A narrower range concentrates capital over fewer prices. A wider range covers more movement but spreads that capital more thinly. See Liquidity positions for the choice and its effect on what you hold.
A fee is a cost, not a quality label
A pool's fee tier sets its swap-fee rate. The recorded Robinhood Chain deployment enables 0.05%, 0.30%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10% and 15% tiers. A particular pool uses one fixed tier; the menu does not mean every pair has a pool at every rate.
Do not choose by fee alone. A lower-fee pool with little active liquidity may produce a worse trade than a higher-fee pool with more depth. Compare the net amount you would receive for the same spend.
A pool's profile also determines whether fees are collected in the asset entering each trade or always in one selected quote asset.
The same pair can have separate pools
Profile, fee tier, quote designation where applicable, and price-history settings distinguish pools with the same pair. These choices are fixed for that pool. Changing them means using or creating a separate pool with its own liquidity and price.
When comparing markets, check the full pool details rather than assuming the token pair identifies one market.
Live price and price history answer different questions
The live price determines trades now. Price history records how the market has moved. Every pool keeps a standard history; Beacon and Lighthouse also keep a capped, slower-moving history. That second record can help a consumer distinguish a brief displacement from a move that persists, but it is not an independent valuation and does not limit trading prices.
Continue to Pool profiles to choose fee treatment and history together.
Technical detail: ticks
Pool ranges are set in ticks, discrete price steps. Adjacent ticks differ by a factor of 1.0001 in the underlying token ratio, about 0.01%. A pool's tick spacing determines which range boundaries are usable. Human-readable prices also account for token decimals and which asset is being priced, so a raw tick is not a displayed token price.