Understanding network fees on a crypto swap

A swap on Ghostex has three costs. Your wallet pays the network fee to send the deposit; it goes to miners or validators and is not refunded. The flat 0.48% exchange fee is already inside your quote, and so is the payout network fee, which Ghostex covers. Nothing is added at the end.

What are the three costs of a swap?

People often talk about one fee, but a swap really has three different costs, and they go to different places. Telling them apart makes it clear where your money goes and where you can save.

Which fee can you control?

The exchange fee is flat and the payout fee is handled for you, so the variable cost is the network fee you pay to send your deposit. It is set by your wallet and by how busy the network is, not by Ghostex.

On busy networks like Ethereum, this fee rises when the network is congested. On Bitcoin it depends on the fee rate you pick and the size of your transaction. On networks like Tron, Litecoin or Solana it is usually small; on Tron, a USDT transfer is paid for in TRX, through the Bandwidth and Energy it uses.

Choosing the right network for the asset can matter more than any other single choice. That is why people move stablecoins across chains; a single swap can move USDT from Tron to Ethereum or back. See USDT on Tron vs Ethereum. The options for moving USDT to a cheaper network, from an exchange withdrawal to a bridge or a swap, are compared in a separate guide.

Why is the 0.48% already in the quote?

When you see the amount you will receive, the exchange fee is already taken out. There is no surprise deduction at the end and no extra line to pay. The figure on your order is the figure you get, subject only to the rate type you chose. With a fixed rate it is locked for 30 minutes; with a floating rate it settles at the market rate when the swap executes. That difference is covered in fixed vs floating rates.

What does a swap cost in practice?

Take an ETH to BTC swap of 1.0000 ETH:

• Exchange fee. 0.48% of 1.0000 ETH is 0.0048 ETH, already inside the BTC amount you are quoted.
• Payout network fee. The Bitcoin fee for sending your BTC is covered by Ghostex and already in the quote.
• Deposit network fee. The only other cost is the gas your wallet pays to send the ETH. A plain ETH transfer uses 21,000 gas, and it costs 21,000 × (base fee + priority fee), paid in ETH.

In dollar terms, the exchange fee on a $1,000 swap is $4.80, and at the $10 minimum it is about $0.05. The only cost you set yourself is the deposit network fee.

How long does each network take to confirm?

Time is the other side of the network fee: Sentinel clears a deposit only after enough blocks, and only then does Executor run the swap. Multiply the confirmations Ghostex waits for by the block interval and you get the typical wait.

XMR is receive-only on Ghostex, so the Monero row applies to payouts. Monero locks newly received outputs for 10 blocks, which is Monero's own rule, not a hold on your order. Whole swaps typically take 5 to 30 minutes, depending on the network.

How can you spend less on fees?

• Pick an efficient network. If an asset exists on several chains, a cheaper network means a smaller deposit fee for the same value. For stablecoins, see the cheapest network to send USDT.
• Send when the network is calmer. On Ethereum and other congested chains, fees rise and fall with demand.
• Do not underpay the miner fee. A fee set too low can leave your deposit unconfirmed for a long time, which holds up the whole swap until it confirms. A fixed rate applies only to the exact amount you agreed to send, sent within the window; see why the exact amount matters.
• Consolidate. The 0.48% fee is proportional, so splitting an amount does not lower it, but each extra swap adds its own deposit network fee. One larger swap pays that fee once.
• Keep the native coin for the fee. A USDT deposit on Ethereum or Tron needs some ETH or TRX in the same wallet to pay the network fee, or it cannot be sent.

What fees apply to a refund?

If a swap cannot complete and the deposit is returned, the refund is the amount received minus the network cost of sending it back. The network fee you originally paid to send the deposit is not refunded, because it was already spent on the network. Say 1.0000 ETH arrives and the order cannot complete. The refund is 1.0000 ETH minus the gas for sending it back, paid in ETH on Ethereum, to your refund address or to the address you paid from. The full rule is in how automatic refunds work.

Who pays which fee, in short

You pay the network to send, Ghostex covers the network to receive, and the flat 0.48% sits inside your quote. On a fixed rate, the number you see is the number you get. Before you send, check the limits: every swap must be worth about $10 to $10,000,000. The FAQ explains how they work, and the exchange form shows the exact minimum and maximum for your pair. The supported assets page lists the confirmations for every deposit network. New to swapping without an account? Read our guide to no-KYC crypto exchanges.