Chainflip

Chainflip is designed for swaps such as Bitcoin to Ethereum without first turning the Bitcoin into a wrapped token. Its protocol uses native-chain vaults for settlement and a dedicated State Chain for the exchange accounting. Developers connect through its APIs, software toolkit or external-chain contracts; they cannot deploy arbitrary applications onto the State Chain itself.

A swap begins by creating a deposit channel through an interface or integration, or by making the supported vault swap call. The request records the destination asset, chain and receiving address. Sending funds directly to a vault without one of those instructions can lose the funds. A deposit channel lasts 24 hours: generate a new one for each swap and send promptly instead of reusing an old address. Once a valid deposit is recognised, execution and destination payment proceed without another user action.

The request also specifies a refund address and retry duration. Price protection can set a minimum acceptable outcome and, for supported assets, a maximum deviation from an external reference price. If the price conditions cannot be met during the retry period, the remaining input is returned to the refund address. A swap split into timed portions can finish partly: successfully exchanged portions go to the destination, while the rest is refunded. This is different from the whole trade disappearing from history.

The fee summary lists a liquidity charge of 0.10% to 0.15% per pool and a network charge of 0.10%, with a US$0.50 minimum. A separate 0.01% network rate applies to internal stablecoin swaps. Sending the initial deposit and broadcasting the destination transfer also incur chain dependent costs. Optional Boost adds a further charge, and a refund still carries a refund charge plus its outbound transfer cost.

The documentation presents the protocol as permissionless and usable from ordinary wallets. That describes the native swap mechanism; an individual website or wallet offering it can have its own access conditions and additional broker charges. Compare the final receiving amount and refund settings in the interface you choose.