What Is THORChain? Native Cross-Chain Swaps Explained

By Oddrix · 2026-10-30

Most "bridges" give you a wrapped copy of a coin, an IOU on another chain that is backed by something locked somewhere else. THORChain works differently. It is a decentralised network that holds native assets in vaults on each chain, so when you swap ETH for BTC you receive real bitcoin at a real Bitcoin address.

How a THORChain swap works

You get a quote. The quote includes an inbound address (the THORChain vault on your source chain), the expected output and a memo.
You send your coins with the memo. The memo is a short instruction such as =:BTC.BTC:bc1q…, which tells THORChain what to swap into and where to send it. On EVM chains, this happens through THORChain's router contract, and your wallet just shows one transaction.
THORChain nodes see the deposit, swap it through the RUNE liquidity pools and send the output coin to your destination address.

Nobody in the middle can take your funds. If the swap cannot complete within your price limit, THORChain refunds you, minus network fees.

Which coins are supported?

THORChain's live pools currently include BTC, ETH, BNB (BNB Chain), AVAX, DOGE, LTC, BCH, ATOM, XRP, TRX, ZEC and stablecoins such as USDC and USDT on several chains. Pools can be paused for maintenance, and Oddrix shows a clear error when a route is halted.

Streaming swaps

Large swaps can move the pool price. THORChain's streaming swaps split a big order into smaller pieces over a few blocks, which usually gets you a better average price. Oddrix requests streaming quotes by default, and the estimated time shows how long it should take.

What fees do you pay?

Liquidity fee: paid to the pool, and larger for bigger swaps relative to the pool depth.
Outbound fee: covers the gas for THORChain to send you the output coin.
Affiliate fee: the interface's fee. On Oddrix it is 0.5%, written into the memo, and paid by THORChain itself.

The quote you see on Oddrix already subtracts all three.

Referral sharing

THORChain supports several affiliates in one swap. When you share your Oddrix referral link, a fifth of the fee is written into the memo for your own THORChain address. THORChain pays you directly, so Oddrix never touches your share.

Things to watch out for

Never send coins to an old inbound address. Vaults rotate, so always use a fresh quote.
Do not use an exchange deposit address as the destination for small swaps without checking that it accepts transfers from new senders.
Do not send to a smart-contract address as the destination.

Try a native cross-chain swap such as ETH to BTC or BNB to ETH.

FAQ

Is THORChain a bridge?

Not in the usual sense. It swaps native assets through liquidity pools instead of minting wrapped tokens.

How long does a THORChain swap take?

From under a minute to around 30 minutes, depending on the source chain confirmations and streaming. Bitcoin deposits need block confirmations.

Not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. Oddrix never holds your funds or keys.