How to Swap BCH to BTC on THORChain
Native BCH in, native BTC out. No wrapped tokens, no custodian, no account, no KYC. This is the end-to-end flow, the fees you'll pay, and the wallets that work.
Why THORChain for BCH ↔ BTC
THORChain is a decentralized cross-chain liquidity network. Every non-RUNE asset is paired with RUNE in an AMM pool, and swaps route through RUNE as the intermediate asset: BCH → RUNE → BTC (or the reverse). You never hold a wrapped token, never pass through a custodian, and never sign a KYC form. The BCH you send lands in a THORChain vault; the BTC you receive comes out of the on-chain pool directly to your Bitcoin address.
- Native to native — real BCH in, real BTC out. No wrapped anything.
- Non-custodial — you sign from your own BCH wallet; THORChain never holds keys.
- No account, no KYC — there is no sign-up step, because there is no operator to sign up with.
Step-by-step: BCH to BTC on THORChain
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Open the THORChain swap interface
Open the BCH → BTC swap page on deving.zone. It loads the live on-chain rate from THORChain pools so you can sanity-check the quote before signing.
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Connect a BCH wallet
Use any BCH wallet that can sign standard send transactions — Electron Cash and BCH-compatible hardware wallets both work. THORChain does not require a proprietary wallet app.
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Enter your BTC destination address
Paste the Bitcoin address you want the BTC to land at. It can be a wallet you control, an exchange deposit address, or a hardware-wallet receive address. Double-check the first and last four characters.
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Review the quote
The interface shows expected BTC output, protocol swap fee, outbound BTC miner fee, and slippage. If the number looks wrong, cancel — never sign a swap whose output you do not recognise.
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Sign and broadcast the BCH send
Your wallet broadcasts a single BCH send to the THORChain inbound address, with the swap memo in OP_RETURN. That is the only transaction you sign.
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Wait for confirmation and receive BTC
THORChain waits for BCH confirmations, routes BCH → RUNE → BTC through its pools, and sends native BTC to your destination address. Typical end-to-end time is 10–15 minutes depending on Bitcoin block time.
The BTC → BCH direction follows the same steps with the sides reversed: connect a BTC wallet, select BTC as the sell asset and BCH as the buy asset, and provide a destination BCH address.
Fees and slippage to expect
A BCH ↔ BTC swap on THORChain carries three cost components. Unlike routing through a centralized exchange, there is no deposit fee, no withdrawal fee, and no spread from an order-book market maker.
THORChain charges a protocol swap fee of roughly 0.3%, pool- and size-dependent. This is what pays liquidity providers in the BCH and BTC pools.
A Bitcoin miner fee on the outbound BTC transaction (or a BCH miner fee on the reverse direction). Paid in the destination asset.
Proportional to your swap size relative to pool depth. Small swaps have negligible slippage; multi-BCH swaps can see several percent.
What else you can do with BCH on THORChain
Swapping is the entry point. The rest of the BCH guide set covers self-custody setup, the L1 stablecoin exit, and the Rujira app-layer — loans against native BCH and concentrated liquidity.
BCH ↔ BTC swap questions
Do I need an account to swap BCH to BTC?
No. THORChain is non-custodial and permissionless — there is no operator to sign up with. You sign a single BCH send from your own wallet, and the BTC lands at the destination address you specify.
Is the BCH wrapped, bridged, or converted to a token at any point?
No. Your BCH stays on the Bitcoin Cash chain until the swap clears, at which point it settles into a THORChain vault. The BTC you receive comes out of the native Bitcoin pool on the Bitcoin chain. There is no WBCH, no renBCH, no IOU, and no bridge in the path.
How much does a BCH → BTC swap cost?
Three components: a THORChain protocol swap fee (roughly 0.3%, pool-dependent), a Bitcoin miner fee on the outbound transaction (paid in BTC), and slippage proportional to your swap size vs. pool depth. Small swaps have negligible slippage; multi-BCH swaps can see a few percent.
How long does it take?
Usually 10–15 minutes end-to-end. THORChain waits for BCH confirmations before routing, then broadcasts the BTC outbound transaction, which waits for one Bitcoin block. The single largest variable is Bitcoin block time.
What wallets can I use?
Any BCH wallet that can sign a standard send transaction and attach an OP_RETURN memo. Electron Cash is the most common desktop choice; BCH-compatible hardware wallets work for cold-storage users. The interface handles the memo construction.
Can I reverse the swap — BTC to BCH?
Yes. The same THORChain pools run both directions. The BTC → BCH flow is structurally identical: connect a BTC wallet, set BCH as the buy asset, provide a BCH destination, sign, and wait.