ETH → BTC

Why ETH -> BTC is a special case

ETH and BTC sit on entirely separate chains with no native bridge, so every swap requires a counterparty or liquidity pool willing to take ETH on Ethereum and release BTC on Bitcoin's mainchain. This is the deepest non-stablecoin pair in crypto, which means tight spreads (typically 0.1-0.5 percent on top of mid-market) and minimal slippage even on five-figure tickets. Confirmation timing is asymmetric: your ETH side lands in 1-3 minutes after 12-30 block confirmations, but the BTC payout waits on Bitcoin blocks - expect 10-40 minutes end-to-end.

Fee dynamics matter here. ETH gas at the send step can swing the effective rate by 0.5-2 percent on small swaps, so sizing up reduces relative cost. On the BTC receive side, the service pays the miner fee out of your output, and during mempool congestion that bite grows.

What to check before clicking swap

• Network selection: send native ETH on Ethereum mainnet, not an L2 or wrapped variant, unless the quote explicitly supports Arbitrum, Base, or Optimism. Sending ERC-20 WETH or L2 ETH to a mainnet-only deposit address is the most common way funds get stuck.
• Receive address: use a native SegWit (bc1q) or Taproot (bc1p) BTC address to minimize the withdrawal fee deducted from your output.
• Rate type: floating rates give you the market price at execution but expose you to drift during confirmations; fixed rates lock the quote but charge a 0.5-1 percent premium and often have tighter min/max bounds.
• Refund address: always provide one. If the deposit arrives outside the quoted window or below the minimum, this is the only way funds return.

Practical tip: avoid swapping during high-gas periods (US market open, major NFT mints) - waiting for gas to drop below 20 gwei can save more than shopping for a better rate.