Why a refund address matters more than people think
It is presented as optional, most people skip it, and it is the single field that decides how a failed swap ends. It takes ten seconds to fill in.
What it is for
A refund address is where your coins go back to if the swap cannot be completed. It is passed to the route along with your order at the moment the trade is created.
Swaps fail for ordinary reasons. A route can run out of liquidity for the pair, an amount can land outside the accepted range, or a deposit can arrive after the window has closed.
When there is a refund address on the order, the route returns the funds to it. That path is automatic and does not depend on anybody noticing your problem.
What happens without one
Without a refund address there is no automatic return path, because nothing on the order says where the coins should go back to.
Recovery then means contacting support with your trade ID so the route can be chased on your behalf. That is slower, it depends on a human being available, and it is not guaranteed.
This is the entire reason the bot asks twice before letting you continue without one.
Getting it right
Use an address on the same network as the coin you are sending. If you are sending Bitcoin, the refund address is a Bitcoin address.
Use an address in a wallet you control. Not an exchange deposit address, which may reject an unexpected incoming transfer.
If the coin you are sending uses a memo or a tag, provide that too. A refund to a memo based network without the memo can be as hard to recover as no refund address at all.
Common questions
- Can I add a refund address after I have already sent?
- No. It is passed to the route when the trade is created, so it has to be there before you deposit. After the fact, recovery is a support conversation rather than an automatic return.
- Who pays the network fee on a refund?
- A refund is an on chain transaction, so a network fee applies to it the same way it applies to any other transfer. You will not receive back the exact figure you sent.
Swap pages related to this guide
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