What can go wrong

A deposit address exists on one chain. Send coins to it over a different chain and they are not lost in transit — they land at an address on that other chain, where nobody is expecting them. Sometimes the holder of the address can reach them there (Ethereum-compatible networks share their keys); often nobody can. In a swap the deposit address belongs to the desk, so a recovery — when one is possible at all — is slow, manual and never guaranteed. Plan as if it were impossible. The wrong-network guide goes through it case by case.

It happens constantly because the addresses look identical. USDT exists on Ethereum, Tron, BNB Chain, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum and more. An ERC20 and a BEP20 address are both 0x… and both pass a format check. The chain is the difference, and the chain is invisible in the address.

What we do about it: the network is shown beside every ticker, you choose it explicitly rather than having it guessed, the payout address is validated against the chain you picked, and the deposit page repeats the network next to the address. What you have to do: read that line before you send, and check what your wallet says it is sending on.

There is no chargeback in crypto, no dispute window, no reversal. Once a transaction is broadcast and confirmed, it is done — by you, by us, by anyone.

Practical consequences worth taking seriously:

• Check the payout address you paste, especially the last six characters. Clipboard-hijacking malware swaps an address for a visually similar one at the moment you copy it — a real and ongoing attack.
• A valid address that is not yours is still valid. Our check confirms the address belongs to the right chain, not that it belongs to you.
• Where a memo or destination tag is required, it is not optional. Omitted, the coins reach the receiving platform but are not credited to you, and recovery is a manual process at that platform’s discretion.

Between the moment you see a quote and the moment your deposit confirms on-chain, the market moves. Who carries that movement depends on the rate type you chose:

• Floating. You carry it. The amount shown is an estimate; settlement happens at the rate in force when your deposit confirms. On a slow chain during a volatile hour, the difference can be material — in either direction.
• Fixed. The desk carries it, which is why a locked quote is slightly below a floating one. The catch is the deadline: deposit the exact amount inside the countdown, or the lock no longer applies and the deposit is refunded.

Neither is a trick. They are two different products, and the reason we show the live difference between them on the home page is so the choice is made with a number rather than a feeling.

The payout network fee is a fixed amount charged by the receiving blockchain. On a large swap it is a rounding error; on a small one it can be a significant share of what you receive. This is not our margin, and it is not negotiable — it is what the network charges to move coins.

It is also why every pair has a minimum: below it, the fee would consume so much of the swap that executing it would be doing you a disservice. Each pair page shows the same exchange at four sizes, with the effective rate of each, so the effect is visible instead of theoretical.

An exchange is only as fast as the slowest chain involved. Most of the wait is the sending network confirming your deposit, and that depends on how congested it is and the fee you attached — neither of which is under our control or yours once the transaction is broadcast.

The forecast shown with a quote is exactly that: a forecast, produced by the desk from current conditions. A busy Bitcoin mempool can turn ten minutes into hours. A stuck low-fee transaction can sit for days. Neither means an exchange has failed.

We do not hold your funds, which removes the largest risk in this industry — there is no balance of yours for anyone to lose. It does not remove every risk:

• A swap in flight passes through a liquidity desk. Between your deposit and your payout, that desk holds the coins. That window is short, but it is real, and it is a counterparty risk.
• Pairs can be suspended between creation and settlement, when liquidity dries up or a chain halts. The outcome is a refund, not a loss, but it is a delay.
• Services go down. If this site is unreachable, an exchange already created continues at the desk — which is why the order ID matters more than the page.

Nothing on this site is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset. We show live rates because you need them to decide; showing a price is not advising you to take it.

Crypto assets are volatile and can lose most of their value quickly. Tax treatment of a swap differs by country and a swap is frequently a taxable event even when no ordinary money is involved. We do not report on your behalf, and we do not hold the records to do so. Keep your own.

If you are not comfortable with any of the above, the right move is not to swap — and we would rather write that here than have you find out afterwards.