THORChain

THORChain can exchange native Bitcoin for native Ethereum through one wallet workflow. Bitcoin enters the network's Bitcoin vault, passes through the BTC/RUNE and RUNE/ETH pools internally, and the resulting ETH goes to the receiving Ethereum address. The intermediate RUNE routing is handled by the protocol.

The documentation describes protocol access as permissionless, without a custodial exchange account or identity paperwork. Its illustrated swap guide starts at the swap website with a compatible wallet. Connect it, choose the asset to sell and the asset to receive, then inspect the amount, route, fees and slippage before selecting Swap. A token may need an approval transaction before the swap itself. Individual wallets or interfaces can impose their own access conditions, so the protocol's account-free design should not be read as a promise about every service built on it.

Four costs deserve attention. The initial wallet transaction pays the sending chain's network charge. A liquidity fee depends on the size of the swap relative to the pool. An interface or integrator can add an affiliate fee. Finally, the outgoing amount has a destination transfer charge deducted, including the protocol's overhead. These components make a single universal percentage misleading; compare the actual amount due at the receiving address.

Streaming swaps divide an order into smaller portions to reduce the pressure of a large trade on available liquidity. They can improve pricing, but the trade-off is the execution schedule and exposure to price changes while portions remain unfinished. One deposit funds the sequence, so the protocol does not require a fresh inbound and outbound network payment for every internal portion. The advanced swap queue now uses streaming by default when no explicit count is provided; developers should not assume the older default means one immediate swap.

Supported chains can be paused. Check the selected route's current availability before sending and retain the destination and transaction details needed to follow settlement. Native delivery removes the need to keep a wrapped asset after the swap, but it does not remove pool, network or execution risk.