What is a crypto swap?
Swapping is trading one crypto for another. What happens when you swap, what it costs, and how it differs from an exchange order or a P2P trade.
What is a crypto swap?
A swap is trading one crypto for another in a single step. You hand over an amount of one asset and receive an amount of another, at the price they trade at right then.
That is the whole idea. There is no order to place and nobody to wait for: you see what you will get before you confirm, and when you confirm, you have it.
The word is worth pinning down because it gets used for two quite different things. On a decentralised exchange, a swap is a transaction you sign against a smart contract. Inside an app like Inkryptus, a swap is a buy or a sell that the platform settles for you. The result is the same, and almost nothing else is.
How does a crypto swap work?
Four steps, in the same order every time.
- Pick what you are giving and what you want. One asset out, one asset in.
- Enter an amount. Either side: how much you want to spend, or how much you want to end up with.
- Read the quote. The price, the amount you will receive, and the fee. Nothing has been charged yet.
- Confirm. The balances move.
What sits behind step four is where the two kinds of swap part ways.
On a decentralised exchange, you connect a wallet you control and sign a transaction. Your assets never leave your wallet until the contract executes. You pay a network fee, called gas, and you wait for the network to confirm. If the price moves while you wait, you can get less than the quote showed, which is called slippage.
Inside a platform, the swap runs on the platform's own infrastructure. There is no wallet to connect, no gas, and no wait for a confirmation. The trade-off is that you are trusting the platform to hold and move the asset, which is what a custodial platform is.
What does a crypto swap cost?
Three costs exist, and not every swap has all three.
The spread or the price itself. You are buying at the price on offer, which is never the exact midpoint of the market.
A platform or protocol fee. A percentage on a decentralised exchange, or a set amount inside an app. On Inkryptus it is 3 USDT per trade, charged in whatever coin you are sending, and it does not grow with the size of the trade.
Gas. The network's own fee for processing the transaction. This one applies on a decentralised exchange and not inside a platform that settles internally.
A small swap on a network with high gas can cost more in fees than the trade is worth. It is worth checking before confirming, whichever route you take.
Swap, exchange order, or P2P: what is the difference?
They all end with you holding a different asset, and they get there differently.
A swap is immediate and at the price shown. You are not waiting for anyone.
An exchange order is placed on an order book. A market order fills straight away; a limit order waits until somebody meets your price, which might be never. More control, more steps.
A P2P trade is between you and another person, usually so one of you can pay in a local currency a platform does not accept. Slower, and it depends on a counterparty doing what they said.
For turning one crypto into another, a swap is the shortest path. For getting your first crypto with money from a bank account, P2P or a card purchase is usually where you start.
Why does everything go through USDT on some platforms?
Because a route has to exist for every pair, and pairing everything with everything does not scale.
With one base asset, any coin can reach any other in two moves. Without it, a platform needs a separate route for each combination, and most of them would be too thin to price well.
USDT is the usual choice because it is a stablecoin: its value tracks the US dollar, so a balance held in it does not move while you decide what to do next. It also means your balance reads in dollars, which is easier to think in than a fraction of a Bitcoin.
On Inkryptus every trade goes through USDT for exactly this reason. Going from one asset to another is two swaps: sell the first for USDT, buy the second with it.
Frequently asked questions
Is a swap the same as a trade?
In everyday use, yes. "Trade" covers anything that ends with you holding a different asset, including orders that wait to be filled. "Swap" specifically means the immediate kind, at the price shown when you confirm.
Can the price change between the quote and the swap?
On a decentralised exchange it can, because the network takes time to confirm. That gap is what slippage settings are for. On a platform that settles internally the quote holds for a short window, and if the price moves past the limit the app asks for a fresh one rather than filling at the old number.
Do I need a wallet to swap?
For a decentralised exchange, yes: a wallet you control, holding the asset and enough of the network's coin to pay gas. Inside an app that holds your balance for you, no. The app is the wallet.
Is there a minimum amount?
Usually a small one, and the fee is the real floor. If a trade is worth less than what it costs to make, the fee eats it. On Inkryptus the minimum is the equivalent of 3 USDT.
Can I swap directly from one coin to another?
It depends on the platform. Some route everything through a base asset, so it takes two swaps. Others quote a direct pair when one exists. Either way you are paying the cost of each leg, so two swaps cost two fees.
Next steps
Explore more: Swap to see what a trade returns before you make one. What is USDT for why a stablecoin sits in the middle. P2P trading for buying from another member instead.
Swap on Inkryptus
Every asset trades against USDT, at 3 USDT per trade charged in the coin you send. No gas fee, no wallet to connect, and the amount on screen before you confirm. The calculator on the swap page shows what any trade returns at the current price.
Investments in crypto assets involve risks, including price volatility and risk of partial or total loss of the invested amount. Digital tokens are not legal tender. This content is informational and does not constitute investment advice.