Crypto swap glossary
The terms you will meet when swapping crypto, in plain language.
- Aggregator
- A service that compares quotes from several swap providers and routes your swap through one of them, instead of operating its own liquidity.
- Atomic swap
- A direct exchange between two blockchains in which either both transfers happen or neither does, with no trusted middleman holding funds.
- Base units
- The smallest indivisible unit of an asset, such as satoshis for Bitcoin or wei for Ether. Amounts are handled as whole numbers of base units to avoid rounding errors.
- Bridge
- A system that moves the same asset between blockchains, often by issuing a wrapped token on the destination chain. It differs from a swap, which converts one asset into another. Read the guide
- Confirmations
- The number of blocks added after the one that contains your transaction. More confirmations make a transaction harder to reverse, and providers usually wait for a set number before acting on a deposit.
- Cross-chain swap
- A trade of an asset on one blockchain for a different asset on another blockchain, such as BTC for ETH. Read the guide
- Custodial
- A service that holds your funds or keys on your behalf, typically behind an account. You depend on the company to keep them safe and to let you withdraw. Read the guide
- Deposit address
- A one-time address, created for a single swap, that you send funds to in order to start it. It should not be reused. Read the guide
- Fixed rate
- A quote whose exchange rate is locked for a limited time, so the amount you receive is known before you send. Compare a floating rate. Read the guide
- Floating rate
- A quote whose rate can change between the quote and the moment the swap executes, so the final amount can be higher or lower. Read the guide
- KYC
- Know your customer: identity verification, such as uploading ID, that some services require before they will trade for you. Read the guide
- Memo or destination tag
- An extra identifier required alongside an address on some networks, such as XRP. If a swap asks for one, it must be included exactly, or the funds may not be matched to your swap. Read the guide
- Minimum and maximum amount
- The smallest and largest amounts a provider will accept for a swap. Amounts outside the limits are not accepted, and the limits change over time.
- Network fee
- The fee paid to a blockchain's validators or miners to process a transaction. It is separate from any service fee charged by the swap provider. Read the guide
- Non-custodial
- A service that does not hold your funds in an account for you. For a swap, funds pass through for that single swap and the result goes to an address you control. Read the guide
- Quote expiry
- The time after which a quote is no longer valid. A deposit address is tied to a quote, so an expired quote means starting a new swap. Read the guide
- Refund address
- The address a provider sends your funds back to if a swap cannot be completed. Use an address you control.
- Slippage
- The difference between the amount you expected to receive and the amount you actually get, caused by price movement or limited liquidity between the quote and execution. Read the guide
- Spread
- The gap between the market price and the rate you are offered. It is a cost even when it is not shown as a separate fee. Read the guide
- Stablecoin
- A token designed to track the value of another asset, usually a currency such as the US dollar. USDT, USDC and DAI are examples.