Swap LTC to BTC without Coinbase
Native Litecoin in, native Bitcoin out. One transaction, no exchange account, no KYC. Here is the walkthrough, the fees to expect, and the wallets that work.
Why THORChain for LTC ↔ BTC
THORChain settles native LTC 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.
- Native to native — real LTC in, real BTC out. No WLTC, no hosted wallet.
- Non-custodial — your LTC is signed from your wallet, never by a custodian.
- Better economics on larger amounts — fewer discrete fees than the CEX path, and no spread tax from a market maker.
Step-by-step: LTC to BTC on THORChain
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Open the LTC → BTC swap page
Open the cross-chain swap interface on deving.zone. It pulls the live THORChain quote: expected BTC output, protocol fee, outbound BTC miner fee, and slippage.
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Connect an LTC wallet
Use any Litecoin wallet that signs standard sends with an OP_RETURN memo. Litecoin Core, Electrum-LTC, and LTC-compatible hardware wallets all work. No THORChain-specific wallet required.
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Enter your BTC destination address
Paste the Bitcoin address you want the BTC to land at — a wallet you control, a cold-storage address, or an exchange deposit address if you want the output there. Verify first and last four characters.
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Review the quote
Check expected BTC output, protocol swap fee, BTC outbound miner fee, and slippage. For larger LTC amounts, slippage can be material — split into multiple swaps if needed.
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Sign a single LTC send
Your wallet broadcasts one LTC send to the THORChain inbound address with the swap memo in OP_RETURN. That is the only signature you produce.
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Receive BTC at your destination
THORChain waits for LTC confirmations, routes LTC → RUNE → BTC through its pools, and broadcasts the outbound BTC transaction. End-to-end time is typically 12–20 minutes.
What else you can do with LTC
Swapping is the entry point. The rest of the LTC guide set covers the mining-rewards flow, the stablecoin exit, and the Rujira app-layer — loans and concentrated LP against native LTC.
LTC ↔ BTC swap questions
Do I need a Coinbase or Binance account?
No. THORChain is permissionless and non-custodial. You sign one LTC send; the BTC lands at a wallet you control. No KYC, no deposit step, no withdrawal wait.
Is my LTC wrapped at any step?
No. LTC stays on the Litecoin chain until it lands in a THORChain vault. The BTC comes out of the Bitcoin pool on the Bitcoin chain. No WLTC, no IOU, no bridge.
What does it cost?
Three components: THORChain protocol swap fee (around 0.3%), Bitcoin outbound miner fee (paid in BTC), and slippage proportional to your swap size vs. pool depth. For larger amounts the numbers are still typically better than the combined deposit/withdrawal spread on a CEX.
What about MimbleWimble LTC addresses?
THORChain settles to and from standard LTC addresses, not MWEB. If your LTC is in an MWEB address, move it to a standard address first — most Litecoin wallets expose both.
How long does it take?
Usually 12–20 minutes. Litecoin has 2.5-minute blocks (faster than Bitcoin), and Bitcoin has 10-minute blocks on the outbound side. Bitcoin block time is the larger variable.
Can I swap BTC back to LTC?
Yes. The same pools run both directions. Connect a BTC wallet, select BTC as sell, LTC as buy, and paste your LTC destination address.