Is PancakeSwap Safe?

|DEX
B

Risk Grade: B (23/100)

PancakeSwap is rated as moderate risk — some novel mechanisms, generally well-understood.

Moderate risk — massive and widely used, but BNB Chain concentration and multi-chain bridge exposure create a large blast radius if something goes wrong

The largest decentralized exchange on BNB Chain, offering token swaps, yield farming, and even a lottery. It holds $2.3B in deposits across 10+ blockchains. Its B- grade comes from heavy concentration on a single chain and the expanded attack surface of running on so many networks.

TVL

$1.6B

Mechanisms

7

Interactions

4

Value Grade

B-

Key Risks for PancakeSwap Users

1.

Over 80% of the $2.3B sits on BNB Chain alone -- any problem with that chain puts the majority of funds at risk

2.

Running on 10+ blockchains means relying on many different bridges, and a single bridge hack could flood markets with fake CAKE tokens

3.

Their Chinese social media account was hacked in October 2025 to promote scam tokens, showing operational security gaps

Top Risk Factors

  • Dominant BSC DEX position creates systemic concentration risk; BSC chain-level issues directly impact $2.3B TVL
  • Multi-chain expansion across 10+ networks increases bridge and cross-chain composability attack surface
  • Social media account compromises (Chinese X account, Oct 2025) used to promote scam tokens erode user trust

Risk Score Breakdown

PancakeSwap's highest risk area is Scale Exposure (7/10). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 23/100 score:

Mechanism Novelty0/15
Interaction Severity5/20
Oracle Surface2/10
Documentation Gaps2/10
Track Record3/15
Scale Exposure7/10
Regulatory Risk2/10
Vitality Risk2/10

Read the Full PancakeSwap Risk Report

This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 1 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.

View Full Report →

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Ratings use Hindenrank's eight-dimension risk rubric. Lower score = lower risk. Grades range from A (safest) to F (riskiest). This is not financial advice.