Guide · 3 min read
What is a refund address in a crypto swap?
By the AltoSwap team · Reviewed and updated · Editorial policy
Short answerA refund address is an address for the coin you send, on the same network, in a wallet you control. If the swap cannot be completed, your deposit is returned there. It is not the address where you receive the swapped coins. Some routes require one before a swap can be created, and on others it is optional but worth filling in.
What it is for
A swap can fail to complete for ordinary reasons: the deposit arrived late or short, the price moved past the limit of the quote, or the deposit was stopped by an automated check. In each case the coins you sent have to go somewhere. The refund address is where.
Which address to enter
- An address for the coin you are sending, not the coin you are receiving. Swapping BTC to XMR, the refund address is a Bitcoin address.
- On the same network you are sending on. For USDT sent on Tron, a Tron address.
- In a wallet you control. The wallet you are sending from is the natural choice.
Avoid using an exchange deposit address as a refund address unless you also give its memo where one is needed. Some exchanges do not credit payments that arrive from a contract or without a memo.
When it is required
It depends on the route your swap is given. Where the route returns failed deposits automatically, the form requires the address and says so. Where it is optional, a swap without one can still be refunded, but support first has to ask you for an address, which takes longer.
What a refund looks like
The swap page changes to Refunded and shows the amount returned and the refund transaction. The amount is what you sent less the network's fee for sending it back. Nothing is converted, so no exchange rate applies.
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