# THORChain route: the swap nobody can freeze

> Standard and Private go through liquidity partners. The THORChain route goes through a decentralised protocol — 1%, no company in the middle, no screening.

Canonical: https://swap.bz/thorchain-swap
Source: Swap.bz — https://swap.bz

THORChain is a decentralised cross-chain network. Your BTC is not handed to a company: it goes to a vault controlled by close to a hundred independent nodes, on-chain liquidity pools do the swap, and the network pays your receive address. There is no operator who can run an AML check, ask for documents, or freeze a deposit — the protocol has no such button. The only thing the network can do is pause a chain for safety, and then it refunds you.

The price is the pool price with a 1% Swap.bz fee written into the memo, so what you see in the quote is what the network executes. Slippage is shown before you send. If the swap cannot complete (price moved too far, chain paused), THORChain refunds the sending address automatically — no ticket, no waiting on a partner.

Two habits make it painless. Send from a wallet you control, never from an exchange, because refunds go back to the sending address. And include the memo shown on the order page: it is how the network knows which asset and which address you want. Wallets such as Sparrow, Trezor Suite and most THORChain-aware apps support it.

## Key facts

- **Fee:** 1% — same as Private, no intermediary
- **Screening:** None — decentralised protocol, no operator
- **Typical time:** 10–30 minutes (BTC confirmations first)
- **Refunds:** Automatic, to the sending address (XRP: optional refund address)

## How the THORChain route works

1. **Pick THORChain in the widget** — Choose a pair the protocol serves (native BTC, ETH, LTC, DOGE, XRP, BCH, stables). The quote is the live pool price with the 1% fee included and slippage shown.
2. **Send with the memo** — The order page shows a vault address and a short memo. Send the exact amount from your own wallet with that memo — this is how the network reads your destination.
3. **The network swaps and pays you** — Once your deposit confirms, liquidity pools execute the swap and THORChain sends the outbound transaction to your receive address. Track it live on the order page.
4. **If something fails, it refunds itself** — Price outside tolerance or a paused chain means the protocol returns the deposit to the sending address, minus network fees. No partner to contact.

## Pairs on this route

- [BTC → ETH](https://swap.bz/swap/btc-to-eth): Native BTC to native ETH, one memo
- [BTC → USDT](https://swap.bz/swap/btc-to-usdt): Cash out to a stable without an exchange
- [BTC → USDC](https://swap.bz/swap/btc-to-usdc): USDC on Ethereum, no account
- [LTC → BTC](https://swap.bz/swap/ltc-to-btc): Litecoin into Bitcoin, fully on-chain
- [DOGE → ETH](https://swap.bz/swap/doge-to-eth): Dogecoin to Ethereum via the DOGE pool
- [XRP → USDC](https://swap.bz/swap/xrp-to-usdc): XRP Ledger to a stable, no KYC

## Before you send

- Send from a self-custodied wallet. Refunds go to the sending address — an exchange deposit address would swallow them.
- The memo is mandatory. A deposit without a valid memo is refunded by the protocol, minus network fees. Respect the minimum shown in the quote: a deposit smaller than the network fee cannot be refunded.
- THORChain covers native L1 assets and major stables. Monero and most alt-L1s stay on Standard or Private. Status & pauses: /status.

## FAQ

### Is the THORChain route really without KYC or AML?

Yes. There is no company between your wallet and the pools: nobody runs a screening, nobody can ask for documents, nobody can freeze a deposit. Swap.bz only builds the quote and the memo.

### Why is there a memo?

The memo tells the network which asset to deliver and to which address. Swap.bz generates it; you paste it into your wallet. Sparrow, Trezor Suite and THORChain-aware wallets support it.

### How does Swap.bz earn on it?

A 1% affiliate fee is written into the memo and paid by the protocol. Nothing is added on top of the quote.

### Which is better: THORChain or Standard?

THORChain when you want zero intermediary and your pair is a native L1 or a major stable. Standard when you need XMR or long-tail tokens, or a slightly better price on a given pair.