# AMM Automated market makers (AMMs) are decentralized finance protocols that allow for the swapping of assets without a centralized intermediary. Smart contracts replace trading desks and order books in "making the market." Trades are executed using assets from liquidity pools. Users create pools for specific tokens and deposit assets into them. Users who supply assets to a pool are called **liquidity providers (LPs)**. AMM pools are permissionless, meaning a user can make a pool for any asset. In Osmosis, pool creators are able to customize the transaction fees and exit fees paid by liquidity providers when withdrawing assets from the pool. Permissionless pools are key to decentralization, but they also create risks. Some users list fake tokens, hoping to trick others into buying the wrong asset. A common version of this scam is a token with a slight mispelling of a popular token (e.g., OSMOO). It is very important to make sure one is purchasing the correct asset before executing a trade. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://osmosis.gitbook.io/o/basic-concepts/amm.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.