Swap XRP to BTC in self-custody
Native XRP in, native Bitcoin out. One XRPL payment, no exchange account, no KYC. Walkthrough, fees, and wallet notes below.
Why THORChain for XRP ↔ BTC
THORChain settles native XRP and native BTC through RUNE-paired liquidity pools. You never hold a wrapped token, never sign a KYC form, and never wait on an exchange withdrawal queue. For XRP holders used to the CEX path, this is a different shape of transaction — one payment, one signature, one outbound.
- Native to native — real XRP in from your XRPL wallet, real BTC out to your Bitcoin wallet.
- No trust lines, no hosted wallet — works with Xaman, Crossmark, and Ledger via XRP Toolkit.
- Better economics on meaningful amounts — fewer discrete fees than the CEX path, and no spread tax.
Step-by-step: XRP to BTC on THORChain
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Open the XRP → BTC swap page
Open the cross-chain swap interface on deving.zone. The page pulls the live THORChain quote: expected BTC output, protocol swap fee, outbound BTC miner fee, and slippage for your size.
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Connect an XRPL self-custody wallet
Use any XRPL wallet that can sign a standard payment with a memo — Xaman (XUMM), Crossmark, or Ledger via XRP Toolkit. No trust line is required. THORChain does not need a proprietary wallet.
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Enter your BTC destination address
Paste the Bitcoin address where the BTC should land — a self-custody wallet, a hardware wallet, or any address you verify on-device. Check the first and last four characters before signing.
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Review the quote
Verify expected BTC output, the protocol swap fee (≈ 0.3%), the BTC outbound miner fee, and the slippage. For large XRP amounts, slippage scales with pool depth — split into multiple swaps if needed.
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Sign one XRPL payment
Your XRPL wallet broadcasts one XRP payment to the current THORChain inbound address, with the swap memo attached. That memo encodes the destination chain and address. One signature, one transaction.
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Receive BTC at your destination
THORChain observes the XRPL payment, routes XRP → RUNE → BTC through its pools, and broadcasts the outbound BTC transaction to your specified address. End-to-end time is typically 12–20 minutes; Bitcoin block time is the bottleneck, not XRPL.
What else you can do with XRP
Swapping is the entry point. The rest of the XRP guide set covers the stablecoin exit, the explainer for the integration itself, and the Rujira app-layer — loans and concentrated LP against native XRP.
XRP ↔ BTC swap questions
Do I need an exchange account?
No. THORChain is permissionless and non-custodial. You sign one XRPL payment; the BTC lands at a wallet you control. No KYC, no deposit step, no withdrawal wait.
Is my XRP ever wrapped or held by a company?
No. Your XRP stays on the XRPL until it reaches a THORChain vault (a multi-sig address controlled by the validator set). The BTC comes out on the Bitcoin chain. No WXRP, no IOU, no custodian.
What does it cost?
Three components: THORChain protocol swap fee (about 0.3%), the Bitcoin outbound miner fee paid in BTC, and slippage proportional to your swap size vs. XRP-pool depth. For meaningful amounts the total is typically below the combined deposit + withdrawal + spread cost of the CEX path.
How long does the swap take?
Usually 12–20 minutes end-to-end. XRPL closes ledgers in 3–5 seconds, so the inbound is fast. Bitcoin has 10-minute blocks, so the outbound is where the clock runs.
What about destination tags and memos?
THORChain uses the XRPL memo field (not destination tags) to encode the swap instruction. The deving.zone swap interface builds the memo correctly for you; if you are using a wallet UI that exposes memos directly, do not modify the field.
Can I swap BTC back to XRP?
Yes. Open the reverse swap page, enter an XRPL destination address you control, and sign a BTC send to the inbound BTC address with the swap memo. Same pools, both directions.