A cross-chain swap quote estimates how much of a destination asset you may receive for a set amount sent from another blockchain. It can change before the swap completes, so check the minimum you will accept and whether that amount covers your planned transfer.
What does a cross-chain quote include?
A quote estimates the result after the route exchanges your asset and sends the output to another chain. A route may use one or more liquidity pools: shared reserves that let people trade between assets. Each pool can affect the exchange rate.
A larger trade can move a pool’s price more than a small one. This is called price impact. Slippage is the difference between the expected price and the price when the swap actually happens. Uniswap’s support documentation makes this distinction; the terms describe different reasons your received amount may be lower.
A route plan can list each hop separately; thor swap moves and swaps assets across chains in one flow, while the amount check below helps you decide whether the destination balance meets your obligation. The quote is still an estimate, not a promise of an exact amount.
How do I judge the amount I will receive?
Start with the output amount, then check the minimum output if one is shown. That minimum is the least you are willing to receive under the swap’s price protection. A tight limit can stop a swap from completing if the price moves; a loose limit allows a worse result.
For example, suppose your treasury sends 1 ETH and the quote estimates 0.032 BTC. If the minimum is set 1% below that estimate, the swap must return at least 0.03168 BTC to meet that limit. These figures are illustrative. They do not include the value of separate network costs.
Then check costs in the asset you will actually spend. You may pay a network fee to send the original asset, a swap fee tied to pool liquidity, and a destination-chain fee for the outgoing transfer. Ethereum.org explains that gas fees rise and fall with network demand. A quoted destination amount may already account for some costs, so avoid subtracting a fee twice.
For a treasury transfer, compare the minimum output with the amount the recipient needs, not only with the quote’s headline estimate. If the recipient needs 0.03 BTC, a 0.03168 BTC minimum leaves 0.00168 BTC of room for price movement. If the minimum falls below 0.03 BTC, choose a different amount or wait for a better quote.
What can change after I check?
The quote can become stale while the source-chain transaction waits for confirmation. Pool prices may move, or the destination network may become busier. A route can also fail at a later step if it cannot meet its minimum output. Uniswap’s developer documentation describes minimum-output checks that stop a trade when it falls below the set amount; cross-chain routes can use different protections, so read the route’s own terms.
Before sending, confirm the destination asset and network match the recipient’s instructions. A ticker such as “USDC” can represent assets on different chains. Also confirm the recipient address belongs to the destination network. For a first transfer, I would use a small test amount when the cost of a mistake is greater than the extra network fee.
Use thor swap when you want one flow to move and exchange assets across chains, then judge the result against your required minimum. Make the decision in this order:
- Check the destination asset, network, and address.
- Compare the quote and minimum output with the recipient’s required amount.
- Account for source, swap, and destination costs without counting any twice.
- Recheck the quote before sending, and test with a small amount if needed.