You can fund a Chainflip swap channel from a wallet that never connects to the swap service: send the correct source asset to its temporary deposit address. The channel links that payment to swap details, including the destination asset, blockchain, and receiving address.
- The sending wallet does not need to connect, but it must send on the right blockchain.
- Open a fresh channel for each swap and send within its 24-hour lifetime.
- Allow for the wallet’s network fee and the swap’s changing net output.
Why can an unconnected wallet fund the swap?
A deposit channel is a temporary address tied to one set of swap instructions. The Chainflip protocol can swap native assets such as BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC across supported blockchains, without requiring wrapped versions. A broker, meaning a service that submits the swap details, registers where the funds should go before you send them.
The sender and the swap instructions are separate. You can arrange the swap using one device or wallet, then send from a second wallet or exchange account. That second wallet only needs to make an ordinary transfer to the channel address; it does not need to sign into the swap service.
How do you fund the channel safely?
Follow these steps in order, because the address is tied to the specific swap and expires.
- Choose the source and destination. Decide which asset you will send and which asset and blockchain should receive it. For example, sending SOL from Solana to ETH on Arbitrum means the source is SOL on Solana, not an ETH token on another network.
- Set the receiving address and refund address. The destination address receives the swapped asset; a refund address is where funds may be returned if the swap cannot complete. Check both carefully, since a correct address on the wrong blockchain can still send funds somewhere unusable.
- Open a new deposit channel for those details. The broker registers the swap on Chainflip’s State Chain, an account ledger that coordinates swap activity. The resulting channel has a unique deposit address, and stays open for 24 hours. Chainflip’s protocol documentation describes this registration as the step that connects a later payment to its intended destination.
- Check the source asset, network, and amount before sending. Copy the channel address into the wallet that holds the funds, select the matching network, and review the transfer. Do not send straight to a general vault address: without a registered swap, the protocol may not know how to handle that payment.
- Send while the channel is open, then watch for completion. The source blockchain first confirms the payment. Chainflip validators, who check transactions and report confirmed deposits, then allow the protocol to process the swap and send the destination asset. If sending from an exchange, allow for its withdrawal delay; a payment arriving after the channel closes may need help to resolve.
What does it cost, and when is another route better?
Budget for two kinds of cost: the source-chain transaction fee and the swap’s net-output reduction. The first is paid by the sending wallet in that network’s fee asset; the second can reflect the exchange rate, price impact (how your trade size moves the available price), protocol charges, and the cost of sending on the destination chain. Bitcoin’s network uses miner fees, while Solana’s fee documentation explains that Solana transactions require SOL for network fees.
For a simple example, suppose you send 0.01 BTC from a wallet with 0.0101 BTC available. If the illustrative Bitcoin transaction fee is 0.0001 BTC, the wallet can cover the transfer and fee; the amount swapped is still 0.01 BTC. The final ETH amount will be lower than a spot-price conversion if swap or destination costs apply, so compare the quoted net amount with moving the assets separately.
This route is useful when the source wallet is unconnected or you want to send directly from an exchange. A connected-wallet route may be more convenient if you want the swap and payment in one flow. The deciding factor is whether the separate transfer is worth the extra control over which wallet funds it.
In short, register the swap first, then send the matching asset from any wallet before the channel expires. Check the destination details and leave enough balance for the source network fee.