Chainflip vs THORChain: which to use for native BTC swaps

For swaps between BTC, ETH, SOL and stablecoins, check both: Chainflip often quotes a better price, THORChain often has more depth for large BTC trades.

For chains that only one supports, the choice is made for you: THORChain covers networks like Dogecoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Cosmos and XRP Ledger; Chainflip covers Solana, Arbitrum and Polkadot assets.

THORChain is its own blockchain with liquidity pools that pair every asset with its RUNE token. Validators jointly control vaults on each connected chain and pay out swaps from them.

Prices come from the pool ratio, so large trades move the price. Streaming swaps split a large trade into parts over time to reduce that slippage.

Chainflip is also its own blockchain with validator-controlled vaults, but it pairs everything with USDC and uses just-in-time liquidity: market makers place liquidity right before each swap block.

This usually gives tighter prices for popular pairs. Boost lets you pay a small extra fee to have a BTC deposit credited before full confirmation.

The main differences in practice:

Both rely on validators that control funds jointly. THORChain has had incidents in the past, and both projects have paused trading when needed. Use either for transfers, not as long-term storage, and try a small amount first.

Swapping BTC to ETH, SOL or USDC: compare both and take the better quote.

Swapping Dogecoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Cosmos or XRP: THORChain.

Swapping into Solana or Arbitrum assets from Bitcoin: Chainflip is often the shortest route.

Not sure: an aggregator such as Rango shows both quotes side by side.