getting-started

Your first DEX DCA plan (Weekly × 4 of 25 USDC into WETH on Base)

Sign 4 slices once, watch them fill weekly for the next month

15 min setup + 4 weeks observation · beginner

What you'll have when finished

  • Have one active 4-slice DCA plan filling weekly into WETH
  • Understand the "sign N slices back-to-back" UX
  • Be ready to scale up to longer plans

Before you start

  • Approval is gas-paid ONCE for the FULL plan total — your wallet must have enough USDC for ALL slices upfront, not just the first one
  • Cancellation does NOT unsign already-signed slices — those may still fill
  • On Polygon you can only do Limit DCA (CoW limitation) — pick Base or Ethereum for Market DCA

Walkthrough

  1. Have 100 USDC + tiny ETH on Base

    You need 100 USDC on Base (4 slices × 25 USDC) AND ~$0.50 of native ETH on Base for the approval gas. Withdraw both from Coinbase directly to Base, or bridge from Ethereum.

    Success criteria: MetaMask shows ≥ 100 USDC and some native ETH on Base

  2. Open DEX DCA + connect wallet

    DEX Trade → DEX DCA. Connect Wallet. Expand the "How DCA works" blue banner once for context.

    Success criteria: Green Connected banner visible AND you have read the 4-step How DCA works panel

  3. Click the Standard template

    Templates row near top: Conservative / Standard / Aggressive / Long-term. Click Standard — pre-fills Weekly × 4 with 1% slippage. The frequency pill shows Weekly, slice count shows 4.

    Success criteria: Frequency = Weekly, slice count = 4, slippage = 1% all visible

  4. Pick CoW + Base + USDC → WETH + Market pricing

    Protocol = CoW. Network = Base (chain-switch prompt may appear — approve in wallet). Sell = USDC. Buy = WETH. Pricing model = Market DCA (default). Per-slice amount = 25 USDC. The total spend line shows 100 USDC.

    Success criteria: All pickers match the values above AND the wallet balance preview shows ≥ 100 USDC

  5. Click Start DCA — sign approval first

    Click Start DCA. First MetaMask popup = ERC-20 approval for the full 100 USDC (gas ~$0.05-0.50 on Base). Sign and wait ~15-30 sec for confirmation. Approval is one-time PER (sell token + protocol) pair — future DCA plans using USDC + CoW on Base will skip this step.

    Success criteria: Approval transaction confirmed; wizard advances to slice signing

  6. Sign 4 slices back-to-back

    The wizard prompts you to sign slice 1, then slice 2, then 3, then 4. Each is a free EIP-712 signature (no gas) — MetaMask popup, click Sign, next popup appears within 1-2 seconds. Be ready to click 4 times rapidly. If you cancel mid-way, slices not yet signed are dropped, but already-signed ones may still fill.

    Success criteria: All 4 signatures complete AND your plan appears in the plans list with status Active

  7. Watch slices fill over 4 weeks

    Slice 1 fires at approximately the time you started (or whenever the first scheduled tick rolls). Slices 2-4 fire weekly thereafter. You get an in-app notification per fill. Solvers compete for the right to fill — typically the WETH amount you receive is slightly better than the quoted rate due to solver surplus. After 4 weeks, plan transitions to Completed.

    Success criteria: You can articulate when each slice fires and what notification format you will receive

What's next

You have one validated DCA plan. Next: scale up. Common follow-ups: (a) double the per-slice amount to 50 USDC for the next 4-week plan, (b) extend to 12 slices for 3 months of accumulation, (c) try Limit DCA at a target price below current market for disciplined dip-buying. For one-shot large-order slicing (single afternoon, not weekly), use [[dex-algo-orders]] instead.