ADA → APT

What makes ADA -> APT specific

ADA settles on Cardano's Ouroboros PoS with ~20 second blocks and deterministic fees around 0.17 ADA per simple transfer. APT settles on Aptos in roughly 1 second with sub-cent gas costs paid in APT octas. The chains share no execution model - Cardano uses eUTXO with Plutus, Aptos uses an account model with Move modules - so there is zero on-chain interoperability. Every swap is custodial or atomic via a third-party engine that holds ADA, then disburses native APT to your Aptos address (starts with 0x, 64 hex chars).

Liquidity for this pair is thinner than ADA -> ETH or ADA -> BTC. Aggregators usually route through an ADA -> USDT -> APT or ADA -> BTC -> APT internal leg, which is why quoted rates can drift 0.5-2% between providers within the same minute.

Choosing a route

• Confirm the destination is a native Aptos address, not an EVM 0x address - they look similar but Aptos uses a 32-byte format
• Check whether the rate is floating or fixed; floating typically nets more APT but exposes you to ADA price movement during Cardano's ~10 minute finality window
• Verify minimum amounts - some routes set ADA minimums around 30-50 ADA due to network fee overhead on the payout side
• Read the refund policy: if you send below-min or the rate expires, refunds go back to a Cardano return address you must provide upfront

Practical tips: size your swap above the minimum but below any provider's no-verification ceiling (often 1-2 BTC equivalent) to avoid post-trade compliance prompts. Send a small test if it is your first time receiving APT - some wallets (Petra, Martian) require account initialization, which costs a tiny APT fee the sender's payout usually covers. Time swaps during overlapping US/EU hours for tighter spreads.