Thorswap compares swap routes with different outputs and transaction costs

SwapKit pricing and provider settlement

SwapKit connects quote requests with integrated liquidity providers, while each selected provider supplies the underlying trading and settlement mechanism. Thorswap presents those routes through its swap interface. Supported routes can involve THORChain, Maya Protocol, Chainflip or NEAR Intents, depending on the requested assets. Their liquidity and fee models determine which quotes the aggregator can return.

A route that combines token trading with cross-chain settlement can carry charges from several components, even though the interface presents the requested exchange as one route with one expected destination-asset amount. Comparing a single fee row misses the effect of the remaining charges and the price that the available liquidity offers.

Comparable amounts and quote units

Expected output provides a useful comparison only when the quotes describe the same input amount and the same destination asset.

The same input and destination

Asset identity includes the blockchain as well as the ticker. Different destination networks can change delivery costs and the asset that the recipient receives. Keep the selected network consistent when comparing routes. A quote for a different sell amount also changes the comparison, because liquidity-sensitive pricing responds to trade size.

Fees in a common unit

SwapKit quote output amounts already account for fees that the route deducts from the output. Subtracting those same charges again understates the estimated receipt. Separately paid wallet costs still need their own treatment. When fees use different assets, convert them to a common valuation before comparing their economic effect. Adding raw token quantities does not produce a meaningful total.

Exchange fees and qualifying discounts

Thorswap’s exchange fee pays for its swap service and remains separate from the costs that the underlying networks and liquidity providers charge.

Service charges

For undiscounted swaps above $100 in value, the standard exchange-fee schedule specifies 0.5%. Swaps below $100 qualify for an exchange-fee waiver. That waiver leaves applicable network and protocol charges in place. The schedule also provides a 50% exchange-fee reduction for a single swap worth more than $1,000,000. Fee schedules can change, so the amount displayed for the selected transaction belongs in the comparison.

Recognition of eligible holdings

Fee-discount eligibility can depend on recognized vTHOR, uTHOR or yTHOR holdings. The Ethereum wallet holding the eligible tokens must connect for the interface to recognize the applicable discount. Compare the exchange-fee row after that recognition. A discount on this component does not erase a liquidity charge or the source transaction’s gas cost. Thorswap denominates its exchange fee in the destination token.

Source-wallet spending and destination delivery

Network charges cover different parts of the route, and their payment locations determine whether they reduce the receipt or require source-wallet funds.

Inbound transactions

The source-chain transaction fee pays for sending the sell asset from the source wallet. The source blockchain charges this fee independently of the exchange service. Its amount reflects the transaction and prevailing network conditions. A wallet balance that covers the sell amount alone may leave insufficient funds for the transaction fee. In SwapKit v3 Chainflip quotes, the inbound fee includes gas and an ingress charge already reflected in expected output. Only gas adds spending beyond the sell amount. Token deposits list these separately; native deposits combine them, so use the combined entry only as an upper-bound gas budget.

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Token approvals

A token route that requires an on-chain spending approval can add a source-wallet transaction cost before the swap. Existing permission may remove that requirement. Include a required approval’s gas cost in the comparison when it sits outside the quoted swap output. Approving spending grants permission; it does not establish that the exchange has completed.

Outbound charges

THORChain deducts its outbound fee from the swap output to fund delivery on the destination chain. That charge covers gas and protocol overhead through a dynamic multiplier. It can differ from the gas cost of a simple wallet transfer. The route’s delivery charge therefore needs its own estimate, even when both transfers use the same destination network.

Pool depth, price impact and fee floors

Pool-based execution changes the exchange price as the trade consumes liquidity, so a route’s output can vary with the selected amount.

THORChain’s slip-based liquidity fee depends on the swap amount relative to pool depth. Applicable minimum fees can also impose a floor. For some actively enrolled affiliates, THORChain selects a dynamic minimum for the relevant L1 trading pair when a nonzero affiliate fee applies. Other swaps follow the applicable network fee-floor rules. Quotes need the correct affiliate configuration to reflect that distinction.

Price impact describes the effect on value or pricing; slippage tolerance controls the permitted execution deviation. A broad tolerance does not deepen a pool or remove the liquidity fee. Likewise, adding an impact percentage to the fee percentages can count the same pricing effect twice. Expected output incorporates the route’s actual pricing relationship more directly.

What does minimum received mean for a quote?

The selected slippage tolerance determines the quoted minimum output amount. Expected output estimates the trade under the quoted conditions. Minimum received describes the lower output bound associated with the selected tolerance. Increasing that tolerance allows a larger shortfall; it does not lower the exchange-fee rate.

THORChain routes can carry a price limit that constrains execution. A swap that cannot meet the applicable limit can trigger a refund. Streaming execution can also produce a partial refund when only part of the input trades within the limit. The minimum-output field does not promise that every submitted swap will finish or return the original wallet balance.

Execution time within a cost comparison

Settlement time measures how long the route expects receiving, trading and delivering the assets to take, rather than how quickly the interface produces a quote. Source confirmation and destination delivery can dominate that estimate. Comparing only the trading phase leaves out those dependencies. The total estimate can change with network conditions.

Streaming swaps on supported THORChain and Maya Protocol routes divide execution into smaller internal trades. This can reduce liquidity-sensitive costs while extending execution time. The mechanism avoids a separate wallet transfer for every internal trade.

Chainflip Boost accelerates eligible deposit processing by using liquidity-provider collateral before full confirmation. It adds a Boost fee when the protocol successfully boosts the deposit. Insufficient Boost collateral makes the deposit follow regular confirmation timing without that fee. Availability and the selected fee terms belong beside the output estimate when comparing an accelerated route.

Fresh quotes before signing

Fresh quotes matter because pool balances, asset prices and network costs can change between viewing a route and preparing its transaction. A cached estimate can describe conditions that no longer apply. The current output and fee breakdown need to remain consistent with the route that the wallet will submit.

A quote describes proposed trade terms. Transaction preparation, signing and settlement establish different stages of the exchange.

SwapKit’s v3 flow separates price discovery from transaction preparation. The preparation stage can refresh an older quote and return changed output or fees. That API behavior does not establish a universal expiration time for every Thorswap provider or deposit method. The selected route’s validity conditions govern its usable estimate.

Wallet gas settings also affect source spending and confirmation speed. An estimate that assumes prompt confirmation can become less relevant if the inbound transaction waits. A cheaper source transaction may therefore change both the spending estimate and the conditions under which the quoted route reaches execution.

Small-swap limits and fee proportions

Small swaps can face a substantial network-cost burden even when an exchange-fee waiver removes the interface’s percentage charge. A delivery fee need not decrease in direct proportion to the sell amount. That relationship explains why an apparently modest transaction cost can consume much of a small swap’s value.

THORChain quotes expose a recommended minimum input amount that accounts for relevant fee requirements. THORChain does not observe inbound deposits below its dust threshold for the source chain, so those deposits cannot trigger a swap. An exchange-fee waiver changes neither threshold. The recommended input can exceed the source chain’s dust threshold because a viable THORChain swap must also cover its fee requirements.