High APR does not mean high profit
A 100% APR pool can still lose money if the pair diverges hard. This calculator nets fees against impermanent loss so you see the real return versus holding. Model the IL side alone on the impermanent loss calculator.
Farm APY minus everything it doesn't mention
A farm advertising 45% APY pays that in its reward token, on a fluctuating principal, before costs. The honest yield subtracts: impermanent loss on the LP pair (a 2× divergence between the pooled assets costs 5.7% of the position), reward-token depreciation (farm tokens with high emissions routinely fall 50%+ over a season), gas or transaction costs to claim and compound, and the price risk of the principal itself.
A realistic rework: 45% headline APY, minus ~10% for IL on a volatile pair, with rewards sold weekly at prices averaging 30% below quote — nets somewhere near 18–22%. Still attractive, but less than half the banner. Farms where the math survives this haircut are rare and usually briefly.
The sequencing rule from people who farmed through cycles: harvest and sell rewards frequently rather than compounding into the farm token. Compounding multiplies exposure to the one asset — the reward token — with the most predictable sell pressure in the ecosystem, since every farmer is periodically dumping the same coin.