The quote at a glance
A swap quote is a promise with conditions. It says how much you should receive, what it costs, which route gets you there and how much the price may move before the swap is cancelled. Every line matters, and most bad trades are visible in the quote before you sign anything.
Below is the ChainBridge swap card with its details panel open. The numbers are an illustrative example (1.5 ETH sold for USDC on Base with ETH at $3,000), not live prices. The numbered markers match the explanations in the next section.
Line by line
- Refresh timer. The ring counts down to the next quote. Prices are fetched again every 15 seconds so the numbers you read stay close to the market.
- You receive. The expected amount if the price does not move, with its USD value and the source that produced the best quote (here, “via KyberSwap”). ChainBridge asks 0x, KyberSwap and ParaSwap in parallel and shows the route that leaves you the most after fees and gas.
- Rate. How many output tokens you get per input token at this quote. It already includes fees taken from the output, so it is slightly below the market price you see elsewhere.
- Cost. Network fee plus ChainBridge fee (plus a partner fee in an embedded widget), in USD. It is the quickest way to compare two trades.
- Price impact. The gap between the USD value you pay and the USD value you receive. Because it compares both sides, it covers the pool's price impact and any fee deducted from the output. It turns amber above 2%, red above 5%, and the swap is blocked above 20%. A dash means a USD price is missing, not that the impact is zero.
- Minimum received. The floor written into the transaction. If execution would give you less, the swap reverts and you keep your tokens (minus the gas of the failed attempt). It is the expected amount minus your slippage tolerance, or the route's own on-chain minimum when it provides one.
- Network fee. Gas paid to the network, not to ChainBridge. A tilde (~) means it was estimated from gas units and gas price rather than reported by the source. Gasless routes show “None (gasless)”.
- ChainBridge fee. The platform fee in percent and USD: 0.05% under $1,000, 0.1% from $1,000, 0.2% from $10,000, and 0.01% on stablecoin pairs. “None on this route” means the winning source does not carry the fee. See swap fees explained.
- Route. The aggregator and, when known, the liquidity sources it uses. “3 sources” means the aggregator split your order across several pools to reduce price impact.
- Max. slippage. Your tolerance. In auto mode it is 0.05% for stablecoin pairs, 0.3% for major pairs and 1% for other tokens, plus half the price impact, capped at 3%. Here: 0.3% plus a 0.1% add-on.
What the review screen adds
Clicking Review swap opens a confirmation screen that locks the quote and prepares the exact transaction. It repeats the key numbers and adds what can only be known once the transaction is built.
- You pay / You receive at least. The headline on the review screen is the minimum, not the expected amount. The expected amount is listed below it as Expected, next to the price impact, network fee, ChainBridge fee, slippage tolerance and source.
- Steps. What your wallet will ask for: “Approve USDC” (always for the exact amount), a Permit2 signature on some routes, then “Confirm swap in wallet”. If your wallet supports batched calls, approval and swap merge into one confirmation. See one-click swaps.
- Simulation. The real transaction is simulated before you sign. “Simulation passed” lists the balance changes; a simulated revert blocks the swap. Read transaction simulation for details.
- Token safety. Both tokens are checked. A dangerous token blocks the swap; a token with risk flags requires you to tick an acknowledgement first.
- Quote age. After 30 seconds the button turns into Refresh quote. You never sign a price that is more than half a minute old.
Worked example
Here is how the numbers in the example fit together. All figures are illustrative, rounded, and assume ETH at $3,000.
| Line | Value | How it is derived |
|---|---|---|
| You pay | 1.5 ETH ($4,500) | Your input at $3,000 per ETH |
| ChainBridge fee | 0.10% · $4.50 | $4,500 falls in the $1,000 to $10,000 tier |
| You receive | 4,493.25 USDC | About 0.05% lost to the pools, then the 0.10% fee |
| Price impact | 0.15% | ($4,500 − $4,493.25) ÷ $4,500 |
| Max. slippage | 0.4% | 0.3% major pair + half the 0.15% impact, rounded to a 0.05% step |
| Minimum received | 4,475.28 USDC | 4,493.25 × (1 − 0.004) |
| Cost | $4.90 | $0.40 network fee + $4.50 ChainBridge fee |
Two readings follow. In the best case you receive 4,493.25 USDC, or more if the price moves your way: positive slippage stays with you. In the worst case you receive 4,475.28 USDC, about $18 less. Anything below that and the transaction reverts instead of filling.
Cross-chain quotes
When the destination network differs from your wallet's network, the details panel is replaced by a route list. Each route shows the amount received and an estimated time, and the best one is marked Best. Below it you get:
- Estimated time, from seconds for fast bridges to tens of minutes for native Bitcoin.
- Minimum received on the destination chain.
- Network fee for the source transaction, and a Bridge fee line when the provider reports one.
- ChainBridge fee, or “None on this route”.
See cross-chain trading for how the routes are compared.
Red flags in a quote
When something looks off, refresh the quote, lower the amount or compare with the slippage guide before you sign. A swap you did not make costs nothing.