Overview

A swap order exchanges one digital asset for another. You submit the order from your Fireblocks workspace, and the selected provider executes the trade on your behalf.

How it works

Select the asset you want to give, the asset you want to receive, and your source vault account. Fireblocks fetches an offer (rate or quote) from available providers and presents the best available route. You can review the offer and switch to a different route before submitting. Once all required approvals and signatures are in place, the provider executes the trade.

Example: You hold USDC in a vault account and want ETH. You select USDC as the asset to give, ETH as the asset to receive, review the offer shown, and submit the order. The provider converts the USDC and delivers ETH to your vault.

Swap types

Off-chain swap

Convert assets within your connected provider account. The provider uses your pre-deposited account balance to execute the conversion. No on-chain transaction is required from your side.

Example: You hold BTC in your Kraken connected account and want USDC. You submit an off-chain swap order — the provider converts BTC to USDC entirely within your account balance, and the USDC is credited to your account. No blockchain transaction leaves your vault.

Cross-chain swap

Convert assets between networks via DeFi or CeFi providers — for example, ETH on Ethereum to BTC on Bitcoin, or USDC on Base to USDC on Arbitrum.

Same-chain swap

Convert assets within the same network via decentralized finance (DeFi) or centralized finance (CeFi) providers.

Provider types

DeFi (direct access providers)

Decentralized protocols such as Uniswap and LI.FI. No account connection is required. Swaps are executed on-chain and support same-chain and cross-chain routes. Your vault must hold the native asset of the relevant blockchain to cover gas fees. Provider fees may also apply and are shown in the quote details.

CeFi (account-based providers)

Centralized providers that require a connected account before placing orders. Different providers support different swap types — for example, N.exchange and Scrypt for cross-chain swaps, and Kraken, Coinbase, and Bitso for off-chain swaps. The swap modal shows only the providers and pairs available for your connected accounts.

Key considerations

Offer and route

The offer shown when creating an order depends on the provider and route. 

• Quote: the price is locked for a fixed time window. Submit the order before the quote expires to guarantee the rate.
• Rate: the price is indicative. The final rate is determined at execution based on the execution type:
  • Market: the best available rate at the time of execution.
  • Limit: the order executes only if the rate stays within your configured slippage tolerance; if the rate moves beyond that threshold, the order fails.

Price impact: For DeFi swaps, price impact measures how much your trade shifts the market price in the liquidity pool. A high price impact means you are receiving a less favorable rate. This is shown in the quote details for DeFi providers.

Fees

Gas fees apply to all swaps in same-chain and cross-chain swaps. Provider execution fees may also apply depending on the provider and token pair.

Quote expiry

Swap quotes are time-limited. If your quote expires before you complete the signing steps, the swap fails and you will need to start a new order.