◇ GLOSSARY
vAMM
Virtual automated market maker — a pricing curve that simulates a pool for perp trades without requiring passive limit orders on every tick. Traders swap against the curve; arbitrageurs and external oracles pull it toward index.
A vAMM does not wait for a human to post a bid. The protocol quotes a price from pool state and funding parameters. Small size gets a clean fill; large size moves along the curve — impact can look like slippage even without a traditional book.
Because the curve is synthetic, oracle lag matters more. If index jumps and the vAMM has not repriced, arbs and keepers compete to close the gap; you can get filled at a stale level or see sudden mark jumps.
vAMMs were early perp DEX infrastructure; many venues now hybridize with order books. Know which model your venue uses before you size like it is Binance depth.