PancakeSwap is a decentralized platform built on the BNB Chain that allows users to trade tokens without the need for a centralized exchange. It offers a variety of products, including an exchange for token swapping, a yield farm for earning rewards, and Syrup pools for staking CAKE tokens. PancakeSwap also features Ethereum liquid staking, a prediction market, Initial Farm Offering (IFO) token launches, a bridge to Ethereum and Aptos, a lottery, and an NFT marketplace. The platform is maintained by an anonymous team of "Chefs" and has been audited by multiple reputable blockchain security firms.

PancakeSwap operates by allowing users to trade tokens directly from their wallets in a decentralized manner. It introduces several key features to improve capital efficiency, lower fees for traders, and increase earnings for liquidity providers. PancakeSwap V3, for instance, allows for capital concentration, enabling liquidity providers to focus their capital on specific price ranges. This aims to provide improved capital efficiency compared to V2, particularly for stablecoin pools. Traders also benefit from lower trading fees in V3, with four tiers of fees catering to the needs of different trading pairs based on expected volatility and trading activity. Additionally, PancakeSwap V3 implements a smart router to find the best trading route across V3, V2, and StableSwap pools.

PancakeSwap aims to provide a decentralized platform for token trading, yield farming, and staking. It also offers a prediction market, IFO token launches, a bridge to Ethereum and Aptos, a lottery, and an NFT marketplace. One of the innovative features of PancakeSwap is the Position Manager, which introduces auto-compounding of rewards, thus all fees and rewards earned by the liquidity position are automatically compounded back into the pool. This feature aims to increase a provider's position over time through the power of compounding. Furthermore, PancakeSwap has introduced a compensation program, distributing a portion of transaction fees weekly to CAKE stakers proportional to the amount and duration of their staked CAKE.

PancakeSwap was initially built on the BNB Chain and has since introduced a variety of products and features. In April 2023, PancakeSwap voted to transition to a deflationary token model called "Ultrasound CAKE." The protocol passed a proposal called CAKE Tokenomics v2.5 to create a structure combining real yield and reduced token emissions. Over 102% of minted CAKE is burned weekly, aiming to provide a multi-year runway for emissions and encourage locking up CAKE. PancakeSwap has also been pursuing a multichain strategy, launching the decentralized exchange and the CAKE token on different layer-one and layer-two blockchains. Despite the bear market's impact on TVL and trading volume, PancakeSwap has an annualized revenue of $27 million, with 42% of CAKE staked.