When you hear "ApeSwap," most people think of high-yield farms on Binance Smart Chain, fast swaps, and a strong community. But what about ApeSwap on Telos? If you're looking to use it as your main decentralized exchange on the Telos blockchain, here’s the truth: the platform works technically, but almost no one is using it.

What Is ApeSwap on Telos?

ApeSwap on Telos is the same platform you know from Binance Smart Chain - but running on the Telos blockchain. It’s not a different app. It’s the same interface, same token (BANANA), same farming system - just moved to a different network. Launched in October 2022, this move was meant to tap into Telos’s low fees and fast speeds. The idea was simple: bring ApeSwap’s popular DeFi tools - swapping, staking, liquidity pools, and Treasury Bills - to a network that could handle them better than BSC.

The platform uses an Automated Market Maker (AMM) model, meaning trades happen through liquidity pools instead of order books. You swap tokens directly from your wallet. If you add liquidity to a pool - say, BANANA and TLOS - you earn a share of trading fees. That’s standard for DeFi. But here’s where things get interesting: the fee structure on Telos is unique. Every trade charges 0.2%, and it’s split up:

• 0.075% goes to buy back and burn BANANA
• 0.0375% to ApeSwap’s Treasury
• 0.0375% to the Telos network
• 0.05% to liquidity providers

This system is designed to make BANANA scarcer over time and reward people who lock up their funds. It’s smart design. But design doesn’t matter if no one’s trading.

How It Works: Swapping, Farming, and Treasury Bills

Using ApeSwap on Telos is straightforward if you’ve used any DeFi platform before. You connect your wallet - like Scatter, Anchor, or Telos Wallet - and you’re ready. The interface is clean, familiar, and beginner-friendly. You can swap between six core tokens: BANANA, ETH, BTC, USDT, USDC, and TLOS. No complicated steps. No hidden menus.

The real draw is the Telos Farms. These let you stake your LP (liquidity provider) tokens to earn TLOS rewards. For example, if you put $100 into a BANANA-TLOS pool, you get LP tokens. You then stake those LP tokens in a farm, and over time, you earn TLOS. That’s passive income without selling your assets.

Then there’s Treasury Bills. This feature lets you sell your LP tokens to the ApeSwap Treasury in exchange for TLOS at a discount. It’s like getting a 10-20% bonus on TLOS if you’re willing to exit your liquidity position. It’s a clever way to incentivize users to provide liquidity early - and then reward them for staying or exiting strategically.

All of this sounds great. But here’s the catch: you need people trading to make it work. And on Telos, almost no one is.

The Real Problem: $0.00 in Trading Volume

As of early 2026, ApeSwap on Telos reports $0.00 in 24-hour trading volume. That’s not a typo. That’s not a delay. That’s what CoinGecko and DappBay show. Zero. Nada. Nothing.

Compare that to Swapsicle V2, the top DEX on Telos, which handles over 64% of all trading on the network. Even then, the entire Telos DEX ecosystem only sees $742 in daily volume. That’s less than a single trade on Uniswap. For context: on Binance Smart Chain, ApeSwap alone sees millions in daily volume. On Telos? It’s a ghost town.

Why does this matter? Because liquidity drives everything in DeFi. Low liquidity means:

• High slippage - your $100 trade might only execute as $92
• Low rewards - if no one’s trading, you get almost no fee share
• Impossible exits - you might not find buyers for your LP tokens

And if you’re farming, you’re not earning from trading fees. You’re earning from inflation - meaning new TLOS tokens are being minted to pay you. That’s not sustainable. That’s a Ponzi-like structure where early users get paid by new ones. But with zero new users, the system grinds to a halt.

Is ApeSwap on Telos Safe?

Yes, technically. The smart contracts were audited by Paladin, a reputable security firm. There are no known exploits or backdoors. The code is open-source. You’re not at risk of being hacked through the platform itself.

But safety isn’t just about code. It’s about liquidity. It’s about whether your funds can move. If you lock $500 into a BANANA-TLOS pool and later want out, you might find no buyers. The price could drop because there’s no market. You could be stuck. That’s not a bug - it’s a design flaw in a network with no users.

Also, the 12-month revenue-sharing deal between ApeSwap and Telos ended in October 2023. That partnership was supposed to drive adoption through joint marketing, incentives, and liquidity mining. Now it’s gone. No more push. No more funding. Just the platform, sitting there, waiting.

Who Should Use ApeSwap on Telos?

Honestly? Almost no one - right now.

If you’re a developer testing smart contracts, sure. If you’re a researcher studying DeFi adoption on niche chains, fine. If you’re deeply invested in Telos and believe it will explode in 2027, maybe you’re betting on the future.

But if you want to earn yield, trade tokens, or make money - don’t use it. The numbers don’t lie. There’s no trading. No volume. No activity. No rewards. Just a beautifully designed platform with no audience.

The same team behind ApeSwap runs a thriving platform on BSC. That’s where the users are. That’s where the liquidity is. That’s where the rewards are real. If you’re serious about DeFi, go there. Don’t waste your time on a dead end.

What’s the Bigger Picture?

ApeSwap on Telos is a perfect example of a common mistake in DeFi: assuming that if you build it, they will come.

Networks like Solana, Polygon, and Arbitrum succeeded because they had massive user bases, strong branding, and developer support. Telos? It’s a niche chain with great tech but zero traction. No big projects. No institutional interest. No media coverage. Just a handful of enthusiasts.

Multi-chain strategies only work when each chain has critical mass. ApeSwap didn’t fail because the tech was bad. It failed because the market didn’t exist. And no amount of good design, audits, or fee structures can fix that.

This isn’t just about ApeSwap. It’s about every DeFi project that jumped onto a small chain hoping to be first. Most of them are now dead. ApeSwap on Telos is just one of them.

What Should You Do Instead?

If you want to use ApeSwap, go to the Binance Smart Chain version. It’s live. It’s active. It has real volume. Real rewards. Real users. The interface is identical. The token is the same. The farms are better. The liquidity is 10,000x higher.

If you’re drawn to Telos because of low fees and speed, try Swapsicle V2. It’s the only Telos DEX with real activity. Or look at other networks: PancakeSwap on BSC, SushiSwap on Ethereum, or Trader Joe on Avalanche. All of them have volume. All of them pay you. All of them work.

Don’t chase novelty. Chase liquidity.

Final Verdict

ApeSwap on Telos is a technically sound platform with a solid design and smart tokenomics. But it’s a platform with no users. No traders. No liquidity. No rewards. Zero volume after over two years of operation isn’t a bug - it’s a death sentence.

Don’t use it for yield. Don’t use it for trading. Don’t use it as your main DeFi gateway. It’s not broken - it’s abandoned. The real ApeSwap lives on BSC. Everything else is just digital dust.